SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific traded little changed Friday morning as investors await data on China’s industrial profits for October.
Markets will also scrutinize concerns over the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, with results and methods used in their phase three vaccine trials under criticism from experts in the U.S.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dipped 0.1% in early trade while the Topix index added 0.15%. South Korea’s Kospi was around the flatline.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia dipped, with the S&P/ASX 200 down by around 0.2%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded fractionally lower.
Data on China’s industrial profits for October is set to be out at around 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN on Friday.
Vaccine concerns
As the race for a coronavirus vaccine continues, questions are being raised over AstraZeneca’s vaccine candidate, for which the firm said combined results revealed it to be 70% effective.
Markets had gotten a boost earlier this week after the interim analysis of clinical trials were released by AstraZeneca. That development had come on the back of a string of encouraging vaccine results after late-stage trial readouts from Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna, raising hopes of a recovery from the pandemic that has crippled economies globally.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.994 following its decline earlier this week from levels above 92.4.
The Japanese yen traded at 104.23 per dollar, still off levels below 104 against the greenback seen earlier in the week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7358, after rising from levels below $0.732 earlier this week.
What’s on tap:
- China: Industrial profits for October at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN
— CNBC’s Natasha Turak and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC