China stocks waver, rest of Asia advance ahead of Yellen

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

The Asian stock markets edge higher on the final trading day of this week and head towards the first weekly rise in five weeks as favourable risk sentiment ahead of Fed Chair Yellen’s speech underpin the region’s indices.

However, the upside appears capped mainly on the back of lower oil prices and on increased nervousness ahead of the US GDP report, especially after the durable goods data released yesterday disappointed markets and weighed negatively on the investors’ sentiment.

China stocks subdued on poor industrial profits data

The Japanese benchmark index, the Nikkei 225 now advances +0.44% to 16,846 points as USD/JPY climbs +0.14% to 109.94 amid ongoing chatter that Japan’s PM Abe will soon announce delay in sales tax hike. Australia’s ASX 200 index rises +0.53% to 5,416 points, despite lower commodities’ prices.

While the Chinese equities waver between gains and losses, unable to find a clear direction as a sharp fall in the April industrial profits data weigh on the markets. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index now drops -0.20%, the CSI300 index is also down -0.18%. Hong Kong Hang Seng trades marginally lower around 20,340 points.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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