The Asian stock markets are expected to open mixed with a positive bias on Friday, thanks to good news from Europe that was somewhat conditional.
Wednesday's EU summit resulted in the clear message that their leaders want Greece to remain in the euro area - but German Chancellor Angela Merkel reinforced her opposition to the idea of issuing eurobonds at the summit.
Also limiting the upside is some uninspiring U.S. economic data, including a report from the Commerce Department showing a drop by a key indicator of business spending.
The major U.S. averages finished mixed on Thursday as the NASDAQ fell 10.74 points or 0.4 percent to finish at 2,839.38, while the Dow rose 33.60 points or 0.3 percent to end at 12,529.75 and the S&P 500 edged up 1.82 points or 0.1 percent to 1,320.68.
The major European markets all moved higher on Thursday as the CAC 40 of France climbed by 1.16 percent and the DAX of Germany gained 0.48 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. rose by 1.59 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished up by 0.59 percent.
The Asian markets were mixed on Thursday as India surged 1.72 percent, while Thailand spiked 1.36 percent, Malaysia gathered 0.55 percent, South Korea's KOSPI collected 0.32 percent, Japan's Nikkei added 0.08 percent and Indonesia was up 0.08 percent. Moving lower, Singapore's Straits Times eased 0.03 percent, while New Zealand retreated 0.30 percent, Australia shed 0.31 percent, Taiwan was down 0.32 percent, China's Shanghai Composite lost 0.53 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.64 percent.
by RTT Staff Writer
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