The stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region were trading mixed on Friday, amid volatility, following Thursday's slump. Japan's Nikkei was gaining after plunging more than 11% in the previous session, but South Korea's KOSPI pared opening gains and was trading sharply lower. Australian stocks also moved into negative terrain after a firm start. Oil prices rebounded on Friday in Asia after falling below $70 a barrel for the first time in more than a year on worries over slowing demand. In currency trading, the dollar strengthened against the yen.
On Thursday, U.S. stocks finished a volatile trading session sharply higher as traders digested a slew of economic data. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 4.7%, the S&P 500 gained 4.3%, and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index advanced 5.5%.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery dropped $4.69, or 6.2%, to settle at $69.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its lowest settlement prices since August 23, 2007. In the Asian session Friday, oil was quoted at $72.83 a barrel, up $2.98, by 9:23 p.m. ET.
The U.S. dollar traded in the upper 101-yen range in early Tokyo deals, up from Thursday's close in the mid 100-yen range in Tokyo. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar opened at 1,325.0 won, down from Thursday's close of 1,373.0 won. The Australian dollar opened 3.9% higher at US$0.6913-0.6916 and the kiwi was slightly higher at US$0.6191 in early local trade.
The Japanese stock market rebounded following Thursday's more than 11% slump. Additionally, a weaker yen boosted export-oriented stocks. At 10:00 p.m. ET, the benchmark Nikkei index was up 129 points or 1.5% at 8,588 and the broader Topix was adding 20 points to 884.
On the economic front, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that the index measuring tertiary industrial activity in Japan for August fell 1.4% from the previous month to 109.1. That was sharply lower than analyst expectations of a monthly decline of 0.8% and it was also significantly lower than the 1.2% monthly gain in July. The index tracks economic output in eleven service industries.
Meanwhile, foreign residents reversed recent course and became net buyers of Japan stocks last week, but remained net sellers of Japanese bonds and notes. Japan's Ministry of Finance reported that foreigners bought a net 34.7 billion yen worth of Japan stocks for the week ending October 11, having been net sellers the preceding two weeks. Overseas residents sold a net 861.0 billion yen in Japanese bonds and notes for the week, their fourth straight week as net sellers.
In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ rose 2.97%, Mizuho Financial added 0.58%, and Resona Holdings gained 2.25%.
Exporters were trading higher on the back of a weaker yen. Automaker Honda rose 6.38%, Toyota gained 4.53%, Suzuki added 2.89%, Nissan advanced 4.84% and Mazda climbed 5.73%. Meanwhile, electronics giant Sony jumped 6.90% and Nikon advanced 1.04%. Heavy machinery maker Komatsu eased 0.86%.
In the tech sector, Advantest slid 3.19%, while Fanuc advanced 1.83%, Kyocera added 1.37% and Fujitsu rose 3.48%.
Among oil-related stocks, Inpex Holdings added 0.17%, Nippon Oil rose 6.15% and Showa Shell gained 2.27%. Trading house Marubeni advanced 1.07%, Itochu added 1.06% and Sojitz improved 0.59%.
The South Korean market was trading lower after opening higher on bargain hunting following Thursday's plunge. At 9:09 p.m. ET, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI was down 7.94 points or 0.65% at 1,205.84 after jumping 16.78 points or 1.38% to 1,230.56 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
In the tech space, Hynix Semiconductors rose 2.0%, market heavyweight Samsung Electronics advanced 0.6%, LG Display climbed 2.7%, and LG Electronics edged up 0.1%.
Automaker Hyundai Motor gained 0.5% and steelmarker POSCO jumped 4.5%.
In the financial sector, Shinhan Financial Group plunged 6.9% and Woori Finance tumbled 5.0%, but Mirae Asset Securities added 2.4%.
The Australian stock market was trading higher on bargain hunting following Thursday's 7% plunge. However, falling commodities prices and lingering global recession fears limited the gains in the key resources sector.
At 9:03 p.m. ET, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 17 points or 0.42% at 4,030, after closing down 6.67% on Thursday. The broader All Ordinaries index was gaining 15 points or 0.39% to 4,004.
On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its international trade price indices for the September quarter. Import Price Index increased 5.0% on quarter and 9.6% for the 12-months through September. Australia's Export Price Index increased 13.3% on and 32.9% for the year through September.
The Melbourne Institute is also scheduled to release its October bulletin of economic trends for the next four quarters.
Among banking stocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia lost 0.97%, National Australia Bank was down 2.07%, and ANZ Banking Group edged down 0.46%. Westpac and investment bank Macquarie Group were unchanged, while St. George bank was up 0.55%.
In the resources sector, index leader BHP Billiton edged up 0.31% and Rio Tinto added 0.76%. Gold miners were weaker, after gold closed lower, for a sixth straight session, on Thursday. Lihir Gold fell 5.05%, and Newcrest Mining dropped 3.67%.
Among energy stocks, Woodside added 0.73%, and Oil Search gained 1.99%, while Santos fell 2.11%.
In the retail sector, David Jones gained 3.40%, and giant retailer Woolworths added 1.58%, while Coles' owner Wesfarmers dropped 0.94%.
The New Zealand stock market opened higher, bouncing back from the previous session's heavy losses. The benchmark NZX 50 index was up 41.68 points or 1.51% to 2,806.37 shortly after the market opened for the day, while the broader NZX All Capital Index rose 33.38 points or 1.19% to 2,840.67.
In the early trading on the New Zealand stock market on Friday, the country's top ranked share Telecom added 1.79%, while the second ranked Contact Energy surged 2.38%. Fletcher Building, the third best stock, collected 2.39%.
In the retail sector Hallenstein Glasson and jewelry retailer Michael Hill International remained unchanged. The Warehouse jumped 5.04%, as Pumpkin Patch climbed 2.86%.
In the energy sector Vector advanced 0.99%, while TrustPower collected 0.73% in the day's early trading.
Among the dual listed issues AMP inched up 0.16%, as Australia and NZ Banking Corp added 1.59%. APN News & Media, Lion Nathan, Telstra and Westpac Bank remained unchanged.
Other Asian markets
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was flat at 15,219; China's Shanghai composite index was up 0.6% at 1,921; Singapore's Straits Times index was flat at 1,948; Taiwan's weighted index was down 2.7% at 4,940; and Malaysia's KLCI was flat at 919.
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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.