Asian stock markets edged higher after a subdued start Friday, notwithstanding volatility in commodity prices and persisting worries over inflation and the euro zone debt crisis. Positive GDP data out of Europe renewed risk appetite, helping the markets in the region either recover or trim their losses. After drifting lower in early trading, oil prices rose over $100 a barrel in late Singapore trading in response to a weaker U.S. dollar.
The Indian market outperformed, with the benchmark Sensex last trading up over 2 percent, as state poll results cheered investors and solid data on industrial output and exports allayed fears of a slowdown in the economy.
Germany's sequential GDP growth came in at 1.5 percent, faster than the previous quarter's 0.4 percent growth and the 0.9 percent growth expected by economists. France recorded GDP growth of 1 percent. Apart from these, even peripheral nations such as Greece and Spain recorded GDP growth.
Meanwhile, Eurostat's estimates showed that the euro area's GDP growth quickened to 0.8 percent compared to the consensus estimate for 0.6 percent growth. On a year-over-year basis, the economy expanded 2.5%, better than the 2.2 percent growth forecast by economists.
The Japanese market fell as weakness in the banking sector outweighed positive earnings reports. The benchmark Nikkei lost 0.7 percent following Thursday's 1.5 percent slide, while the broader Topix index fell 1.1 percent.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group tumbled 3.8 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group lost 2.8 percent after the Japanese government agreed to set up a fund with taxpayer money to help Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) avoid a financial collapse.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a press conference that the public would never accept government financial support for the nuclear power plant operator unless mega banks write off some of their Tepco debts. Tepco shares plunged 5.4 percent due to a lack of clarity in the government plan. Inpex fell 3.9 percent, Hitachi lost 1.1 percent and Komatsu shed 0.8 percent.
On the other hand, Nissan Motor climbed 3.5 percent after the nation's second bigger car maker by sales reported a net profit of 30.8 billion yen in the fiscal fourth quarter ended March, reversing a net loss of 11.6 billion yen in the year-ago period. Shares of Nikon Corp also climbed 6.5 percent after the company reported solid earnings and forecast a 54 percent rise in profit this year on strong demand for digital cameras and growth in emerging markets.
China's Shanghai Composite index gained a percent, led by banking shares such as ICBC, China Construction Bank and Bank of China on expectations of solid earnings growth and improvement in banks' net interest margins in the second quarter.
The People's Bank of China on Thursday lifted the banks' reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, the fifth such hike this year, despite little evidence of price increases being contained. Inflation data released a day before showed that China's consumer prices rose 5.3 percent in April from a year earlier, well above the government's target of 4 percent set for 2011.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.9 percent amid speculation that China may limit interest-rate hikes over the rest of the year.
The Australian market closed a choppy session modestly higher, with miners leading the gainers, buoyed by a positive close on Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finished 0.3 percent higher while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 0.2 percent. Big miner BHP Billiton gained 0.4 percent, rival Rio Tinto added half a percent and Fortescue Metals edged up 0.2 percent.
In the banking sector, Westpac added half a percent , ANZ gained 0.4 percent and Commonwealth edged up marginally, but NAB lost 0.2 percent. Woodside Petroleum edged up 0.1 percent after incoming chief executive Peter Coleman said he would work towards resolving a stalemate with East Timor over the Greater Sunrise project. Qantas Airways closed unchanged after the union representing its maintenance engineers postponed a planned strike over claims for job security.
South Korea's Kospi average ended 0.1 percent lower, as foreign institutional investors sold automakers and chemical companies amid worries about the global growth outlook. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar after the Bank of Korea unexpectedly left its key policy rate unchanged for the second month in a row rate following a quarter percentage point increase each in January and March.
The nation's central bank left interest rates unchanged at the current level of 3 percent versus expectations for a 25-basis-point hike. However, the decision wasn't unanimous, Governor Kim Choong Soo said.
New Zealand's NZX-50 index slipped 0.1 percent even as Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard signaled that interest rates will remain on hold at a record-low level until the downside risks to the economy play out.
"It is appropriate for monetary policy to remain supportive, given the continued downside risks to economic activity stemming from the Canterbury earthquakes and more broad fragility in the New Zealand economy," Bollard wrote in a column for the Press newspaper.
Heavyweight Telecom eased a little over a percent, Pyne Gould slumped 6 percent and Fletcher Building lost half a percent while Contact Energy closed unchanged. Nuplex rose 0.3 percent despite issuing an earnings downgrade yesterday. TrustPower edged up 0.1 percent after reporting a flat underlying annual profit while its major shareholder Infratil added half a percent. The Warehouse Group gained 1.4 percent after posting a 1.4 percent rise in group sales for the three months to May.
Elsewhere, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite rose 0.6 percent, Malaysia's KLSE added half a percent and Singapore's Straits Times advanced 1.1 percent, while the Taiwan Weighted drifted down 0.30 percent.
The major U.S. averages ended up about half a percent each overnight after seeing weakness early in the session, with a rebound in commodities prices contributing to the recovery.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.