US retail data boosts Asian indices

Tokyo: Japanese stocks led the gains in Asian markets Friday after Wall Street rallied to one of its best days of the year as data showed the US economy is holding up better than expected, with particular credit going to the country’s shoppers. US futures were higher while oil prices dropped. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 is set to end a week of gains, with the index surging 2.9 per cent to 37,800.42. It rebounded from the large selloff last week, where the higher interest rate from the Bank of Japan made investors who had borrowed in yen and invested in dollar assets sell their holdings to cover the higher costs in the ‘carry trades’ deals. The yen went weaker against the greenback this week.

The dollar fell to 148.88 yen from 149.27 yen in morning trading, while it was hovering around 146 during the previous week. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.6 per cent to 17,376.44, and the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1 per cent higher to 2,879.93. Gov. Pan Gongsheng said in an interview with state media on Thursday that China’s central bank is developing new policies aimed at supporting economic growth in the second half of the year. These include accelerating improvements to the central banking system and placing greater emphasis on the financial technology market. He also said the overall cost burden of local government debt has seen a significant drop.

Meanwhile, e-commerce giants’ reports also drew investors’ attention, with the tech giant Alibaba Group Holding seeing revenue grow 4 per cent in the second quarter.