Thursday, March 28, 2024
Homeasia marketsShanghai, Tokyo shares scale new highs in choppy session

Shanghai, Tokyo shares scale new highs in choppy session

After a lackluster morning session, Asian stocks mostly advanced on Friday, with Tokyo, Shanghai and Sydney markets finishing the week at new highs.

Overnight, U.S. stocks closed mixed as the Fed-inspired rally lost steam amid a stronger dollar. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed down 0.7 and 0.5 percent, respectively, while the Nasdaq settled up 0.2 percent.

Global markets had cheered the Federal Reserve's statement in the previous session, which hinted that the central bank might not pull the trigger on interest rates until later in the year.

Mainland bourses mixed

China's Shanghai Composite made a sudden surge in the afternoon session, charging 1 percent to close at its highest level since May 2008.

Financials were among the most actively-traded stocks on the bourse. Agricultural Bank of China rallied 2 percent, while brokerages likeCitic Securities and Haitong Securities jumped 9 and 5.9 percent each.

Shares of the country's second-biggest insurer Ping An Insurance surged 3.5 percent in Shanghai and 4.1 percent in Hong Kong on the back of a 39.5 percent rise in profit last year.

Read MoreFor HK, a chill sets in as China tourists go elsewhere

Hong Kong's key Hang Seng index sagged 0.4 percent as traders digest a raft of corporate earnings.

Li & Fung tanked 7.4 percent after an 11.8 percent fall in 2014 profit, while China Mobile lost nearly 2 percent as last year's net profit fell more than 10 percent, its largest annual drop in over a decade.

Swire Properties receded 2.3 percent despite its underlying profit rose 12.7 percent in 2014, hitting 7.15 billion Hong Kong dollars, versus a year-ago profit of HK$6.35 billion.

RELATED ARTICLES
- Advertisment -

Most Popular