Asian stocks gained on Friday, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index set for its third weekly advance, after BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto said they would form an iron- ore venture and the yen fell to its lowest in a week. In New York, the S&P500 climbed 1.2% after analysts recommended buying bank shares.
Asian markets (Fri)
03:10 BST
Nikkei up 56.78 (0.59%) at 9,725.74
Topix up 3.54 (0.39%) at 914.53
Hang Seng up 17.35 (0.09%) at 18,520.12
US markets (Thurs)
S&P500 up 10.70 (1.15%) at 942.46
DJIA up 74.96 (0.86%) at 8,750.24
Nasdaq up 24.10 (1.32%) at 1,850.02
European markets (Thurs)
Eurofirst 300 down 1.54 (-0.18%) at 866.56
FTSE100 up 3.52 (0.08%) at 4,386.94
Currencies
03:45 BST
€/$ 1.4199 (1.4175)
$/¥ 96.84 (96.06)
£/$ 1.6129 (1.6301)
Commodities
04:00 BST
Brent Crude (ICE) up $0.53 at $69.24
Light Crude (Nymex) up $0.49 at $69.30
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down $3.60 at $978.70
Copper (Comex) up $2.00 at $232.10
10-year government bond yields (%)
04:05 BST
US 3.73 (3.54)
UK 3.85 (3.77)
Germany 3.63 (3.65)
Japan 1.51 (1.53)
Sources: FT, Bloomberg