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Japan +1.56%. Japan’s February services PMI (final) 54.0 vs 52.3 previously.
Japan Data – Tokyo area headline CPI for February was 3.4% (previously 4.4%).
Japan’s unemployment rate in January was at 2.4%, 0.1% lower than December and slightly down below economists’ expectations of 2.5%.
China +0.54%. China Services PMI for February was 55.0 (vs 54.7 expected).
Hong Kong +0.87%.
Australia +0.39%. Australia home loans in January -5.3% monthly (-3% expected, -4.3 percent previously).
Australia’s February Judo Banking PMI (last) 50.7 (previously 48.6).
India +1.22%. A survey showed India’s S&P manufacturing purchasing managers index for February stood at 55.3.
Overnight in America, Major US stock indexes are closing higher for the day. Both the S&P and NASDAQ indexes avoided closing below the key 200-day moving average. The NASDAQ index closed below its 200-day moving average yesterday. After two days of declines, the S&P 500 gained 29.96 points to end at 3,981.35. Meanwhile, Nasdaq ended trading at 11,462.98, up 83.50 on the day. Supported by CRM earnings, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 341.73 points to close at 33,003.57.
Initial Unemployment Claim unexpectedly slipped to 190,000, showing ongoing strength in the labor market. Meanwhile, a separate report shows unit labor cost rose 3.2% more than expected in Q4.
However, stocks rallied midday after Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic offered a glimmer of hope on monetary policy. He said the central bank could pause rate hikes this summer.
New Zealand’s February consumer confidence fell to 79.8 from 83.4 in January.
The S&P Global Singapore Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 49.6 in February, below the 50-point separating growth and contraction.
US crude fell 0.13% to $78.06 a barrel. Brent crude oil touched 84.66 USD/barrel.
Gold prices rose on Friday and looked set to post their biggest weekly gain since mid-January, as the US dollar weakened, while traders assessed the outlook for a Federal Reserve rate hike. state.
spot gold up 0.2% to $1,838.84 an ounce, as of 03:58 GMT, up about 1.5% so far this week. US gold futures rose 0.2 percent to $1,844.20.
spot silver up 0.4% to $20.98 an ounce, platinum up 0.3% to $962.48 and palladium up 0.2% to $1,452.12.
US futures are mostly lower. Dow Jones index -0.14%; S&P 500 -0.18%; Nasdaq -0.26%.
