Asian stocks rose on Friday, led by technology companies and banks as investors shrugged off a wave of negative economic and corporate news and showed optimism that the US will widen its support for the financial industry. Futures on the S&P500 Index rose 0.2% after the gauge added 1.6% on Thursday.
Asian markets (Fri)
05:00am GMT
Nikkei up 101.08 (1.27%) to 8,050.73
Topix up 2.65 (0.34%) 789.07
Hang Seng: up 187.66 (1.42%) at 13,366.56
US markets (Thurs)
DJIA up 106.41 (1.34%) at 8,063.07
Nasdaq up 31.19 (2.06%) at 1,546.24
S&P500 up 13.62 (1.64%) at 845.85
European markets (Thurs)
FTSE100 up 0.33 (0.01%) at 4,228.93
Eurofirst 300 down 0.92 (-0.92%) at 810.49
Currencies
04:55 GMT
€/$ 1.2782 (1.2830)
$/¥ 90.82 (89.27)
£/$ 1.4607 (1.4443)
Commodities
04:57 GMT
Brent Crude (Mar09) down $0.50 at $46.41
Light Crude (Mar09) down $0.49 at $40.68
100 Oz Gold (Feb09) down $1.00 at $913.20
Copper (Mar09) up $75.00 at $3,430.00
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.89 (2.92)
UK 3.72 (3.77)
Germany 3.33 (3.36)
Japan 1.34 (1.34)
Sources: FT, Reuters