Investing.com - Asian stocks moved higher in Friday trade, led by financial issues after the European Central Bank announced plans to coordinate efforts to address European sovereign debt.
During early Asian trade, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.7 to 19,181.50, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 1.64% to 8,810.80, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 1.7% to 4,142.10.
Along with the Nikkei, the broader-based Topix Index of all issues listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed 1.1% to 760.33.
Earlier Thursday, the ECB announced it "has decided, in coordination with the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank, to conduct three U.S. dollar liquidity-providing operations with a maturity of approximately three months covering the end of the year."
The ECB move helped to diminish market fears of imminent Greek default, as well as lift the prospects for other European central banks threatened by debt insolvency.
European shares ended Thursday’s session higher, with France’s CAC 40 surging 3.27%, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 2.1%, and Germany’s DAX advanced 3.15%.
Also Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that Americans filing for initial jobless benefits rose by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 428,000 for the week ending September 9.
Market expectations were for jobless claims to decline to 410,000.
Separately, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced that industrial production rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in August, just above market expectations of a 0.1% gain, and following a 0.9% rise in July.
Wall Street shares gained group for the fourth straight session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.66%, the Nasdaq Composite Index was lifted 1.34%, and the S&P 500 climbed 1.72%.
Earlier, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced that foreign direct investment in China jumped 11.1% in August from a year earlier, totaling USD8.45 billion last month.
Banks in the region bounced on the announcement from the ECB, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. up 2.7%, Mizuho Financial Group Inc. adding 1.7% and Sumitomo MItsui Financial Group Inc. higher by 1.6%.
In Sydney, financials followed suit with National Australia Bank Ltd. up 2.3%, Westpac Banking Corp. adding 2.5% and Macquarie Group Ltd. surging by 3.5%.
The outlook for European stocks was mixed. France’s CAC 40 futures was higher by 0.09% to 3,070.80, Britain’s FTSE 100 futures edged up 0.07% to 5,367.40, while Germany’s DAX futures was lower by 0.14% to 5,583.20.