Updated on
Summary
Asian stock markets closed out the week in sluggish mode Friday following weakness on Wall Street and a disappointing US labor report. Oil prices fell to near $91 a barrel as traders mulled whether demand in a slowly recovering U.S. economy will be enough to push crude above $100 soon. In currencies, the dollar was down against the yen and up against the euro.Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average fell 0.5 percent to 10,538.47 as Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet resigned en masse. The move paves the way for Kan to reshuffle his lineup later in the day in a bid to revive the economy. South Korea's Kospi index rose 0.5 percent to 2,101.50.Investors were taking profits after the Nikkei closed at an eight-month high on Thursday, and the dollar's fall under the 83-yen line hurt exporters.Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite index declined 1 percent to 2,798.62, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.1 percent at 4,800.60. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand also fell.Analysts in the region were careful not to read too much into Wall Street's lackluster performance from the day before; Asian markets have lives of their own, according to Kwong Man Bun, chief operating officer at KGI Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng index was up 0.2 percent to 24,297.32.Liquidity is quite abundant in Hong Kong, Kwong said. The Hang Seng will reach 25,000 before the Chinese New Year. In addition, fears are easing over Europe's debt crisis and China's monetary tightening.That's why we have seen increasing fund inflows into Hong Kong, he said.
