By SINGAPORE — Shares in the Asia Pacific markets rose on Friday, with Hong Kong stocks leading gains as a volatile trading week comes to a close.
The Hang Seng index jumped 2.2% in early trade, while the Hang Seng Tech index spiked 3.75%. Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong traded higher, with Xpeng up nearly 6% and Baidu rising 5.53%.
In other developments, China kept its one-year benchmark lending rate on hold at 3.7%, but cut its five-year loan prime rate by 15 basis points. It was the second cut this year.
Mainland Chinese stocks climbed on Friday. The Shanghai Composite was 0.69% higher, while the Shenzhen Component gained 0.56%.
Shares of Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio surged in its Singapore debut on Friday, the third exchange its shares are listed on. The stock popped at the open, rising by nearly 20% before paring some gains to trade higher by more than 3% on Friday morning in Asia.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1%, and the Topix advanced 0.54%.
Japan’s core consumer prices, which include energy costs but not fresh food, rose 2.1% in April compared to a year earlier, in line with economists’ estimates, Reuters reported.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia was 1.13% higher.
In South Korea, the Kospi gained around 1.5%, while the Kosdaq climbed 1.36%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.09%.
Overnight on Wall Street, major U.S. stock indexes fell, with the S&P 500 moving closer to a bear market. Investors fear that the Fed hikes could tip the U.S. into a recession.
The S&P 500 fell 0.58% to 3,900.79, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 236.94 points, or 0.75%, to 31,253.13. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.26% to 11,388.50. Those moves followed sharp drops on Wednesday.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 103.106, falling from above 103 earlier this week.
The Japanese yen was last at 128.1 per dollar, while the Australian dollar was at $0.7029.
Crude oil futures fell in Asia trade. U.S. crude slipped 0.19% to $112 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude was down 0.27% at $111.74 per barrel.
