Asian stock markets snapped the losing streak and are mostly higher on Friday, after three straight sessions of losses, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street on better-than-expected weekly labor market data. Investors are upbeat after Fed officials allayed flation fears and are scooping up bargains following the heavy losses in recent sessions, which were driven by inflation concerns. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.
However, the gains in markets in the region are capped amid continuing concerns about the accelerating daily coronavirus infection rates caused by highly contagious variants of the virus.
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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.