Asian shares slipped on Thursday dragged down by Chinese stocks as recent upbeat economic data raised fears of monetary policy tightening, while the dollar index struggled near one-month lows.
Taiwan leads gains as other Asia-Pacific markets struggle for direction
Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Thursday, with Australia’s jobs data for March beating expectations.
Taiwan’s Taiex surged 1.25% on Thursday to close at 17,076.73, leading gains among the region’s major markets.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.51% to close at 7,058.60.
Australia’s unemployment rate for March came in at 5.6%, according to seasonally adjusted estimates released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday, against expectations of a 5.7% reading in a Reuters poll. Data from the ABS also showed 70,700 net new jobs being created in March, more than double the forecast in a Reuters poll for a 35,000 rise.
Mainland Chinese stocks slipped on the day, with the Shanghai composite down 0.52% to 3,398.99 while the Shenzhen component declined 0.42% to 13,680.27. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell around 0.5%, as of its final hour of trading.
Elsewhere in Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced fractionally to close at 29,642.69 while the Topix index gained 0.36% to end the trading day at 1,959.13. South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.38% higher at 3,194.33.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.2%.
Futures for Eurostoxx 50 and Germany’s DAX started in negative territory while those for London’s FTSE were a tad higher. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.2%.
European markets edge higher with earnings and inflation in focus
European markets advanced modestly on Thursday morning, as investors digest a fresh round of corporate earnings and inflation figures from several major economies.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.4% in early trade, with basic resources climbing 1% to lead gains, while banks and insurance stocks bucked the trend to slide 0.4%.
Stocks in Europe received a mixed handover from Asia-Pacific, where Chinese markets declined on Thursday while those in Australia, Japan and South Korea eked out cautious gains.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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