Investing.com - Asian stocks were mixed in early Friday trade, with German approval of an expansion to the European rescue fund tempered by the longer term outlook for a resolution to euro-zone debt woes.
During early Asian trade, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.61% to 17,914.10, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.5% to 8,744.55, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 sank 2.5% to 3,970.10.
Along with the Nikkei, the broader-based Topix Index of all issues listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 0.36% to 765.03.
Hong Kong trading was halted on Thursday due to Typhoon Nesat.
Earlier Thursday, German lawmakers voted to approve an expansion of the European Financial Stability Facility, with only 85 of 523 legislators opposing the vote.
Germany became the 13th member of the euro-zone to support expansion of the rescue fund totaling USD600 billion. Cyprus and Estonia also approved the planned expansion on Thursday.
Later in the day, the U.S. Department of Labor released data for the past week, showing that the number of Americans filing for unemployment assistance fell more than expected, to a seasonally adjusted 391,000 from 428,000 the prior week.
Market expectation were for the weekly figure to drop to 420,000.
Wall Street retreated from early session gains to close mixed on Thursday; The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.30% to 11,154.00, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.43% to 2,480.76, while the S&P 500 added 0.81% to 1,160.40.
On Friday, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced that the nation’s industrial production rose less than expected in August, to a seasonally adjusted 0.8% from 0.4% the previous month. Economists had forecast a 1.5% gain.
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Also Friday, Japan’s Statistics Bureau reported that the country’s unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in August, down from 4.7% the month before. Market expectation were for Japan’s jobless rate to remain unchanged.
In Sydney, QBE Insurance Group Ltd. rose 2.5%, after an Australian news report that the country’s largest insurer was among bidders for HSBC Holdings Plc’s insurance division.
HSBC Holdings Plc. rose 0.4% in early Hong Kong trade.
China Railway Group Ltd.’s shares slumped 2.9%, after the company announced the USD47.3 million purchase of a development company from Railway Engineering Corp.
Higher crude oil prices boosted energy stocks in the region with Woodside Petroleum Ltd. up 1.58%, Santos Ltd. higher by 1.86% in Sydney, while Japan’s JX Holdings Inc. added 1.1%.
The outlook for European stocks was pessimistic. France’s CAC 40 futures was lower by 0.42% to 3,020.50, Britain’s FTSE 100 futures shed 0.36% to 5,161.10, while Germany’s DAX futures lost 0.36% to 5,641.90.