Asia-Pacific markets started the week higher after most major bourses closed lower in the previous session, while China left its benchmark interest rates unchanged.
The People’s Bank of China’s one-year benchmark lending rate – the peg for most household and corporate loans in China – stood at 3.45%. The five-year benchmark lending rate – the benchmark for most mortgages – was 4.2%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 briefly touched a 33-year high earlier in the session, but then struggled to hold on to gains. The index was down 0.08%, while the Topix was off 0.31%. Investors will be looking to Japan’s October inflation figures on Friday.
Hong Kong stocks led declines in the Asia-Pacific region on Friday as shares of Alibaba plunged after the Chinese e-commerce giant said it would not proceed with the full spin-off of its cloud group.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.83%, while China’s CSI 300 fell 0.23%.
South Korea’s Kospi was up around 0.75%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was up a larger 1.42%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.16%.
The S&P 500 closed higher on Friday, marking a third consecutive week of gains amid a red-hot November rally.
The broader index gained 0.13%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day 0.01% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.08%.
The major US indices posted their third consecutive positive week. The S&P 500 rose by 2.2% and the Nasdaq by around 2.4%. The Dow closed the week up 1.9%. This is the first three-week winning streak for the Dow and S&P 500 since July, and the first for the Nasdaq since June.
