Asian stocks held steady on Friday as Chinese shares continued to rally in the wake of drastic measures announced by regulators to calm the markets. Despite doubts on the potency of Beijing's aggressive rescue efforts to produce a durable recovery, regional stocks ended mostly higher on hopes that authorities will step up the efforts to prevent the fallout from spilling over into the real economy.
Meanwhile, Greece submitted new reform proposals to its international creditors on Thursday night, raising hopes a deal would be reached at weekend crisis meetings scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Chinese stocks rallied for the second day in a row amid expectations the country's central bank will unveil further support measures over the weekend to support the market that had tumbled around 30 percent in just three weeks. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index climbed 168.47 points or 4.54 percent to 3,877.80, its highest level since July 2.
Hong Kong stocks also extended gains for a second consecutive session, with the benchmark Hang Seng index closing up 508.49 points or 2.08 percent at 24,901.28.
Japanese shares lost ground, led by a sharp decline in market heavyweight Fast Retailing after the Uniqlo chain operator reported higher sales and profit for the nine months ended May 31, but forecast sales to be weak in the fourth quarter. While shares of Fast Retailing slumped 6 percent, Dentsu, West Japan Railway Company, Daiichi Sankyo, Sharp Corp and Nippon Telegraph & Telecom Corp jumped 3-4 percent.
The benchmark Nikkei average gave up early gains to close down 75.67 points or 0 38 percent at 19,779.83, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares advanced 0.23 percent to close at 1,583.55. The Nikkei fell 3.7 percent for the week, posting its biggest weekly percentage loss since October. The yen weakened amid improving global risk appetite.
In economic news, an index monitoring corporate service prices in Japan eased 0.2 percent in June from the previous month, missing forecasts for an increase of 0.1 percent following a downwardly revised 0.2 percent increase in May.
Australian shares rose but ended off their day's highs ahead of the weekend EU summit meeting that could decide the fate of Greece in the euro zone. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose over 1 percent in early trade before paring gains to close the session up 21 points or 0.38 percent at 5,492 in relatively thin trading. Miners Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group and BHP Billiton climbed 2-3 percent after iron ore prices jumped almost 10 percent overnight.
In economic releases, official data showed that Australian home loan approvals fell a seasonally adjusted 6.1 percent in May from the previous month, disappointing economists' expectations for a 3 percent decline.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining fell 2.3 percent as gold prices hovered near a four-month low. Santos and Oil Search rose 2-3 percent as oil prices extended gains in Asian deals after rising sharply overnight. Banks ended mixed, with ANZ and Commonwealth eking out modest gains and Westpac rising 0.7 percent, while NAB slipped 0.2 percent.
Seoul shares edged higher amid receding worries over Greece and China. Gains were capped as foreign investors extended their selling streak to a sixth straight session. The benchmark Kospi average rose 3.36 points or 0.17 percent to close at 2,031.17.
Telecom giant KT Corp rose 0.7 percent after the company said its so-called "GiGA Wire" technology has won recognition from the United Nation's communications arm. Large-cap shares ended mostly lower with Samsung Electronics falling half a percent while Hyundai Motor shed 2.4 percent and LG Display declined 2.5 percent.
New Zealand shares edged lower even as confidence crept back into global equity and commodity markets. The benchmark NZX-50 index dropped 12.10 points or 0.21 percent to 5,725.34. Online auction site Trade Me Group fell 2.1 percent and construction firm Fletcher Building dropped 1.1 percent, while outdoor goods retailer Kathmandu Holdings rallied 3.9 percent following the previous session's sell-off. Shares of electricity firms closed mostly lower as investors wait for the decision about the future of the Tiwai Point aluminum smelter.
Elsewhere, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index was up 0.7 percent, Malaysia's KLSE Composite index was gaining 0.8 percent and Singapore's Straits Times index was adding 0.6 percent, while Indian shares were little changed ahead of industrial output data due out later in the day.
The financial markets in Taiwan were shut due to super typhoon Chan-hom that was centered 360 kilometers east-northeast of Taipei.
Malaysia's industrial production grew 4.5 percent year-over-year in May, faster than April's 4.0 percent climb, preliminary figures from the Department of Statistics showed. Economists had expected the growth to ease to 3.1 percent.
U.S. stocks rose on Thursday but ended off their day's highs due to continued worries over Greece and China. The International Monetary Fund trimmed down its expected global growth for 2015 and a report showed first-time claims for U.S. employment benefits rose last week to the highest level since February, prompting traders to book some profits at higher levels. The Dow and the S&P 500 rose about 0.2 percent each, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.3 percent.
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Market Analysis
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.