Asia Markets Close Mixed, Europe Extends Rise

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, following a quiet overnight trading session with US markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Chinese stocks ended the week more than 1% lower after a heavy sell-off in the previous session.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 reversed early losses to close up 0.12% at 22,550.85 as markets reopened for trade after a day off. Losses were seen in automakers and manufacturing names. Technology stocks were a mixed picture: Nintendo rose 3.55%, SoftBank Group gained 1.4% and Sharp was down 1.26% by the end of the day, CNBC reported.

Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi tacked on 0.28% to end at 2,544.33, with tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics gaining 0.29%. Financials drifted slightly lower.

Down under, the S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.06% to close at 5,982.55. The industrials and information technology sub-indexes fell 0.42% and 0.74% respectively by the end of the session.

In China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite eked out gains of 0.06% to close at 3,353.82 after trading in negative territory earlier in the day. The index finished the week 1.14% lower. The Shenzhen Composite meanwhile lost 0.09% to end at 1,922.72, closing the week down 2.5%. The blue-chip CSI 300 index, which suffered its largest one-day fall since June 2016 on Thursday, closed higher by 0.04% after choppy trade.

India stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Durables, IT and Technology sectors led shares higher. At the close in NSE, the Nifty 50 gained 0.40%, while the BSE Sensex 30 index gained 0.27%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fared better, climbing 0.54% after closing 1% lower on Thursday. Still, the index remained below the 30,000 mark that it topped for the first time in a decade earlier this week.

Meanwhile, major European stocks benchmark moved higher Friday, with bank shares among gainers and the markets getting a lift as German business optimism climbed to a record. But the euro remained in focus as it continued to extend gains for the week, Foxbusiness reported.

In Paris, the CAC 40 claimed a 0.3% rise at 5,395.34 following Thursday’s close at a near two-week high. In Madrid, the IBEX 35 picked up 0.6% to reach 10,098.10. The export-heavy German DAX 30 benchmark was up 0.1% at 13,025.59, on track for a modest weekly rise of 0.2%.

But the UK’s FTSE 100 index was down 0.3% at 7,396.60. That kept pressure on the Stoxx Europe 600, which was down 0.1% at 386.91.