SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks rose in trading Friday morning as investors await the release of the latest Chinese loan interest rate.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.11% in early trading while the Topix index rose 0.28%.
The South Korean Kospi gained 0.52% while the S & P / ASX 200 in Australia climbed 0.1%.
MSCI’s broadest index for Asia Pacific stocks outside of Japan traded slightly higher.
China’s one-year policy rate (LPR) and five-year LPR are due to be released on Friday at 9:30 a.m. HK / SIN. According to Reuters, the majority of traders and analysts in a quick poll do not expect any change in either the one-year or five-year LPR.
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Overnight in the States, the S&P 500 was up 0.13% to 4,405.80 while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.11% to 14,541.79. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, shedding 66.57 points to 34,894.12.
Currencies
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its competitors, hit 93.576 after rising below 93 earlier this week.
The Japanese yen was trading at 109.78 per dollar, up against the greenback above 110 yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7148 after falling above $ 0.728 earlier in the week.
