By Mia Lamar
Asian stock markets were mildly higher Friday after Wall Street
snapped a long losing streak, though a firmer yen and Japan's tepid
August inflation weighed on Tokyo shares.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was an early standout, trading 0.3%
higher after touching a new five-year high. Signs of economic
stabilization in China - Australia's largest trading partner - have
spurred a strong quarter for the Australian market, one of the
Asia's best performers with a 10% increase so far in the third
quarter.
Stocks in the U.S. rose overnight as investors set aside
concerns over budget and debt-ceiling wrangling in Washington,
sending the S&P 500 (SPX) up 0.3% for its first positive close
in six sessions.
"Investors appear to be prepared to ride through the noise of
political brinkmanship at this stage," said Ric Spooner, chief
market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. Australia's major banks
and heavyweight miners advanced in early trade. Rio Tinto rose 0.5%
and Commonwealth Bank of Australia added 0.3%.
Japanese shares failed to take encouragement from the U.S.
session, with the Nikkei trading down 0.2% as a firmer yen kept
many buyers at bay. The U.S. dollar (USDJPY) traded at Yen98.75
against the Japanese currency, compared with Yen99.02 late Thursday
in New York.
Shares of major Japanese exporters were lower with Kyocera down
1.8% and Tokyo Electron off 0.4%.
A lackluster inflation reading also weighed on investor
sentiment in Tokyo. Core consumer prices rose 0.8% nationwide in
August, slightly stronger than economists predicted, although
prices in the capital city of Tokyo recorded a weaker-than-expected
increase.
"The Bank of Japan has been publicizing this apparent inflation,
but we'll see that is not necessarily what is happening," said
Yuichi Kodama, chief economist at Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance.
Hong Kong investors were cheered by gains on Wall Street,
putting the benchmark Hang Seng Index up 0.3%. China's Shanghai
Composite edged 0.3% higher, shaking off three-straight sessions of
losses ahead of the long Golden Week holiday starting Tuesday.
Elsewhere in the region, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3%, Taiwan's
Taiex added 0.2% and Singapore's Straits Times Index gained
0.7%.
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