The gain in the regional market largely came after the U.S. Labor Department Thursday reported the number of workers applying for jobless benefits had fallen last week, suggesting the world's biggest economy continues to steadily recover.
But gains on the upside were limited as investors traded cautiously ahead of a much awaited a report on U.S. payrolls to gauge the outlook for Federal Reserve stimulus. US jobs report is the last major piece of economic data the Federal Reserve will get to see before it decides whether or not to pull back on its massive bond-buying program. That program has kept interest rates abnormally low and supported stock markets. While most investors believe the Fed will begin to pull back, the question has become when and how much.
Meanwhile, upside move on the market was also capped amid lingering jitters over Syria's civil war and whether the U.S. would launch a punitive strike against President Bashar Assad's regime for an alleged chemical attack against civilians in suburban Damascus last month. But at the G-20 summit of world leaders in Russia this week, President Barack Obama failed to amass much support for military intervention.
Among Asian bourses, Tokyo stocks declined for the first time in five straight sessions, as wave of profit taking from investors on cautious ahead of the widely watched U.S. employment report and an announcement this weekend on which country will host the 2020 Olympic Games. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 204.01 points lower at 13,860.81 as SoftBank drags on the gauge, while the Topix index of all first-section shares declined 10.02 points, to 1,147.82, reversing an earlier gain of as much as 0.4%.
NTT DoCoMo Inc rose 0.56% following a Nikkei newspaper report that the company will soon begin to carry Apple Inc's iPhone. Shares of rival carriers Softbank Corp lost 2.15% and KDDI Corp sank 0.20%, which already carry the iPhone, fell 2.9% and 1.2%, respectively.
In Australia, Australian share market finished marginally higher after being in the red for most of the session as investors largely opting for risk aversion stance as the country's federal elections approached on Saturday, lingering jitters over Syria's civil war and ahead of the official U.S. jobs report for August later in the day. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 2.5 points to 5145. The broader All Ordinaries added 5.6 points to 5144. For the week, the ASX200 gained 0.2% and All Ordinaries rose 0.4%.
In China, headline shares on the China's market advanced today, sending the benchmark Shanghai Composite index 17.56 points higher from prior day closure to 2139.99. Shares of airlines, banks and shippers led the market rally on speculation Shanghai's Free-Trade Zone will lure more business into the city.
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Shares of shippers and port operators climbed up in Shanghai on the back of surge in the Baltic Dry Index overnight to its highest level since January 2012 and media reports that limits on foreign investment proportions in joint-venture international shipping companies will be relaxed in the Shanghai trade The Baltic Dry Index jumped 5% yesterday to its highest level since Jan. 9, 2012. Cosco Shipping jumped 0.33 yuan to 3.62 yuan. Tianjin Marine Shipping Co. climbed 6.4% to 5.64 yuan.
In Hong Kong, HK shares closed slight higher in narrow trade as investors traded cautiously ahead of a much-anticipated U.S. jobs report, with improvement among financial issues aiding a modest turnaround in the equity benchmark. The Hang Seng Index rose 23.25 points to 22621.22 and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was off 4.82 points to 10334.07.
Shipping stocks were higher in Hong Kong on rising shipping rates and expected government support for the industry. The Baltic Dry Index jumped 5% yesterday to its highest level since Jan. 9, 2012. China Shipping Development gained 2.3% to HK$4.43 and China Cosco Holdings Co advanced 1.3% to HK$3.91.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced on Friday that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$303.9 billion as at the end of August 2013 (end July 2013: US$299.9 billion). There were no unsettled forward contracts both at end-August and end-July 2013. The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$303.9 billion represent over seven times the currency in circulation or about 52% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
In India, Indian benchmark indices surged as a strengthening rupee boosted sentiment. The rupee strengthened against the dollar after Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said in an interview to a business channel that the oil minister will on 16 September 2013 announce plans for lowering fuel consumption. The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 290.30 points or 1.53% to settle at 19,270.06, its highest closing level since 14 August 2013.
Indian PSU OMCs and upstream oil companies gained after Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid's comments that the oil minister will on 16 September 2013 announce plans for lowering fuel consumption.
The rupee strengthened against the dollar after Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said in an interview to a business channel that the oil minister will on 16 September 2013 announce plans for lowering fuel consumption. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 65.18, stronger than its close of 66.01/02 on Thursday, 5 September 2013.
Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi index jumped 0.19% while Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.06%. Indonesia's JKSE Composite rose 0.16% while New Zealand's NZX 50 Index lost 0.16%. Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.3% and Malaysia's KLSE Composite added 0.16%.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 15 points at opening bell on Friday, 6 September 2013. US stocks on Thursday climbed for a third consecutive session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its longest winning run since the middle of July, as investors looked to the government's monthly jobs report.
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