SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific rose in Friday morning trade, as investors reacted to the market debut of JD Logistics in Hong Kong.
Shares of JD Logistics opened about 12% higher from their issue price before extending gains. The stock last traded more than 17% higher in Friday morning trade. Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com also edged 0.35% higher.
The broader Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 0.59%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.94% while the Topix index advanced 1.78%. South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.56% higher.
Mainland Chinese markets also nudged higher as the Shanghai composite hovered above the flatline while the Shenzhen component rose 0.181%.
Elsewhere in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.16%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.38% higher.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 141.59 points to close at 34,464.64. The S&P 500 edged 0.12% higher to 4,200.88 while the Nasdaq Composite ended the trading day stateside little changed at 13,736.28.
The moves on Wall Street came following the release of stronger-than-expected U.S. labor market data. Initial jobless claims fell to 406,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was much lower than the 425,000 initial jobless claims expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.093 — above levels below 90 seen earlier in the week.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.90 per dollar, following its sharp weakening yesterday from levels below 109.2 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7744, still lower than levels above $0.777 seen earlier this week.
Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.48% to $69.79 per barrel. U.S. crude futures advanced 0.63% to $67.27 per barrel.
Source: CNBC