Asia-Pacific (APAC) share markets rose on Friday morning despite a flat finish on Wall Street as after-market futures trading provided a positive influence.
As of 12 pm AEST (2 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up by 0.2%, South Korea’s Kospi 200 had gained 0.1% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.7% higher.
In New York on Thursday (Friday AEST), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually unchanged, the S&P 500 index slipped 0.04% and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 0.28% at the sound of the bell.
But in trading after the close, the United States stock futures gained some ground with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.06% and the Nasdaq-100 futures adding 0.28%, albeit the S&P 500 was flat.
The positive mood extended to mainland China where the Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 3,382.13 and the CSI 300 gained 0.2% to close at 3,920.94, and to Hong Kong where the Hang Seng Index put on 0.4% to 23,622.92.
But in India investors were down in morning trading with the BSE Sensex dropping 0.8% to 81,951.99.
European share markets had closed down overnight with the UK’s FTSE 100 off by 0.5% at 8,739.3 points, Germany’s DAX 0.5% lower at 23,999.2 and France’s CAC 40 off by 0.6% to 7,864.4.
Gold, which has risen strongly over the last year due to its status as a safe-haven asset during times of uncertainty, rose 0.8% to US$3,297.50 per ounce, but well below the record high of US$3,500.05 reached on 22 April.
Brent crude oil, which has fallen over the last year because of increased OPEC+ production, rising U.S inventories, a stronger dollar and concerns about a global recession dampening demand, dipped 0.7% to US$64.02 per barrel.
