HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed in light trading Friday following gains on Wall Street.
Japan’s Nikkei NIK, 0.62% was about flat while South Korea’s Kospi 180721, 1.07% rose 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -1.16% declined 0.6% while the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, -2.08% fell 1.3%. Taiwan’s Taiex Y9999, 0.38% gained slightly.
Markets in Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore were closed for Good Friday, as were most other global markets, including Wall Street.
U.S. stocks shrugged off an additional 6.6 million jobless claims in the wake of coronavirus-related shutdowns and sinking oil prices despite reports of a tentative deal to cut global production and end the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Bloomberg News reported late Thursday that the deal was being held up by Mexico, which did not agree to the mandated production cuts for each OPEC+ member country, but may still be hammered out Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.22% gained 285.80 points, or 1.2%, to close at 23,719.37, while the S&P 500 SPX, +1.44% jumped 39.84 points or 1.5% to end at 2,789.82. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.77% advanced 62.67 points to trade near 8,153.58, a 0.8% gain.
The Dow rose 12.7% in the abbreviated week, while the S&P 500 notched a 12.1% increase, marking its best weekly gain since 1974.
