MTS Help Center

That, along with strength in other markets in the region, helped push MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.3 percent.

“Just two months ago China was facing one of the worst years it’s ever had in terms of equity market performance. So I think investors are taking very seriously the fact that the rebalancing of MSCI is happening,” said Jim McCafferty, head of equity research, Asia ex-Japan at Nomura.

“News that President Trump walked out of the meeting with Supreme Leader Kim, because the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement over North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, dashed hopes for an easing in geopolitical tensions,” analysts at ANZ said in a morning note.

South Korea’s financial markets are closed Friday for a public holiday.

· Global index provider MSCI will quadruple the weighting of Chinese mainland shares in its global benchmarks later this year, it said on Thursday, potentially drawing more than $80 billion of fresh foreign inflows to the world's second-biggest economy.

MSCI also announced that it will add Chinese mid-cap stocks to its emerging market benchmark in November, boosting the number of Chinese constituents.

In a statement on its website, MSCI said it will increase the inclusion factor of Chinese large-cap stocks to 20 percent from the current 5 percent in three steps, in May, August and November this year.

Rival index publisher FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones Indices will both start adding yuan-denominated Chinese shares to their global benchmarks this year as Beijing steps up efforts to integrate China's capital markets into the global financial system.

· Tokyo’s Nikkei share average surged to 2-1/2-month highs on futures buying after the dollar rose against the yen on the back of strong U.S. economic growth, giving Japanese exporters a boost.

The Nikkei rose 1.0 percent to 21,602.69, the highest close since Dec. 13. For the week, the benchmark index gained 0.8 percent and posted its third straight weekly gain.

“Short-term investors are seen buying back futures while they pick up cheap cyclical shares as the yen is weaker,” said Naoki Fujiwara, a fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.

Analysts said the market will remain cautious as it tracks developments in U.S.-Sino trade negotiations. U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Thursday that he could walk away from a trade deal with China if it wasn’t good enough.

· China stocks rose on Friday after index publisher MSCI said it would boost the proportion of Chinese mainland shares in its global benchmarks, though soft factory activity data curbed further gains.

The CSI300 index was up 0.5 percent at 3,685.73 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1 percent to 2,945.05 points.

Global index provider MSCI is quadrupling the weightage of Chinese mainland shares in its global benchmarks later this year, a move it said might draw more than $80 billion of fresh foreign inflows to the world’s second-biggest economy.