People walk through Shibuya on June 23, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
Carl Court | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets climbed Friday after economic data from the U.S. calmed recessionary fears, while investors also assessed a slew of data from Japan.
Initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell to 231,000 from the prior week’s 232,000, but were slightly higher than the 230,000 expected by Dow Jones.
In addition, the second-quarter gross domestic product growth was revised higher to 3% from the initial 2.8% rate.
Inflation rate in Japan’s capital city of Tokyo rose to 2.6% in August from July’s 2.2%, hitting its highest since March.
The core inflation rate — which strips out prices of fresh food — rose 2.4%, higher than the 2.2% expected from a Reuters poll of economists. Tokyo’s inflation is widely considered to be a leading indicator of nationwide trends.
Stronger inflation numbers offer the Bank of Japan more room to tighten its monetary policy.
Unemployment in Japan rose to 2.7% in July, more than the Reuters estimate of 2.5%.
July retail sales in the country rose 2.6% year on year, lower than the 2.9% growth expected by Reuters and the revised 3.8% increase seen in June.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.74% to close at 38,647.75, its highest level since July 31, and the Topix also climbed 0.73% to 2,712.63 after the data release.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index gained 1.44% as of its final hour, leading markets in Asia, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 1.33%, rebounding off a near seven-month low and closing at 3,321.43.
On Friday, Reuters, citing sources, reported that Chinese state-owned banks were seen purchasing U.S. dollars to prevent the Chinese yuan from appreciating too fast.
According to LSEG data, the onshore yuan has strengthened considerably, from about 7.27 on July 23 to about 7.09 currently. This is its strongest level against the dollar since the start of the year, currently trading at 7.086 to the greenback.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.45% to 2,674.31, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 1.54% to 767.66 and snapped a seven-day losing streak. South Korea’s retail sales dipped 1.9% month on month compared to June. On a year-on-year basis, retail sales fell 2.1%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.58% to 8,091.9, coming within 30 points of its all-time closing high of 8,114.7.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to a new record, up 0.59% and closing at 41,335.05. Gains in Goldman Sachs, Intel and Visa helped lift the blue-chip average to a new high.
The S&P 500 ended the session just below the flatline, but the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.23%, dragged by shares of chipmaker Nvidia, which slid 6.4%.
—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Tokyo’s inflation numbers rose to 2.6% in August, from July’s 2.2%.
