Sunrise around the Bund river district on November 02, 2023 in Shanghai, China.
James D. Morgan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets closed higher on Friday, tracking gains on Wall Street after new labor market data boosted investor confidence in the U.S. economy and eased recession concerns following a sharp market sell-off earlier in the week.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.25% to close at 7,777.7. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.56% to close at 35,025, while the broad-based Topix traded 0.88% higher to end at 2,483.3. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.24% to close at 2,588.43, while the small-cap Kosdaq jumped 2.57% to close at 764.43.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index rose 1.42%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 slid 0.34% to close at 3,331.63.
Earlier this week, global equities and currencies plunged after U.S. employment data renewed recession fears and investors started to unwind their yen “carry trades.”
Investors are parsing China’s consumer price index and producer price index for July.
China’s consumer price index climbed 0.5% year-on-year, beating Reuters’ estimates of a 0.3% rise. The figure compares to a 0.2% climb in June.
The producer price index for July fell by 0.8% from a year ago. That was slightly less than the 0.9% forecast decline, and unchanged from June’s 0.8% drop.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 advanced 2.3%, closing at 5,319.31 and posting its best day since November 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 683.04 points, or 1.76%, to 39,446.49. The Nasdaq Composite added 2.87%, ending at 16,660.02.
Initial filings for unemployment insurance totaled less than anticipated last week, countering other indications of a weakening labor market. First-time filings for jobless benefits came in at 233,000 last week, down 17,000 from the previous week and lower than the Dow Jones estimate for 240,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday, offering markets some relief amid signs that job growth is slowing.
—CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.