Asian equities mostly higher; US NFP eyed

Asian equities traded mainly higher on Friday following a strong lead from the American session as traders continued to speculate over a massive tax reform being passed in the upcoming days, while keeping an eye on incoming economic data.

Japan’s current account came in at 2.176 trillion yen for October, above an estimated 1.930 trillion seen, but down from a previous month 2.271 trillion.

In other news, Japan’s third-quarter gross domestic production was revised upwards to 0.6 percent quarter-over-quarter and 2.5 percent year-over-year. In both cases, data outperformed economists’ predictions of 0.4 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.

Earlier today, Chinese dollar-denominated exports terms rose 12.3 percent in November year-over-year, more than doubling economists’ forecast. On the other hand, imports added an incredible 17.7 percent last month, compared to an estimated 11.3 percent build seen.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 70.57 points by the end of the session at 24,211.48. The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to end at 2,636.98. The Nasdaq composite added 0.5 percent to close at 6,812.84, helped by rising shares of Facebook and Amazon.

The US Labor Department said initial jobless claims stood at 236,000 last week, below an estimated 240,000 and a previous week 238,000.

On Thursday, a Republican leader hinted that the GOP tax reform resolution was meant to further changes before being handed to President Donald Trump for a final approval.

<<< Cryptocurrencies >>>

Bitcoin once again was in focus, as the world’s most popular cryptocurrency rose to nearly $19,000 on Thursday, although it later adjusted around 20 percent downwards. Speculation is high on this market. The currency has started 2017 around $1,000.

<<< Next in Europe >>>

Ahead in today’s session, Germany will release trade balance figures for October at 07:00 GMT, with a 21.8-billion-euro superavit seen.

<<< Next in the United States >>>

Ahead in today’s session, focus will be at fresh labor market data, including the unemployment rate, average hourly earnings and most importantly, nonfarm payrolls for November.

<<< Asian Stock Indexes at 07:15 GMT >>>

Australia ASX S&P +16.60 +0.27% 6,077.40

Shanghai Composite +17.84 +0.55% 3,289.89

Hong Kong Hang Seng +353.67 +1.25% 28,656.86

Japan Nikkei 225 +313.05 +1.39% 22,811.08

Taiwan TSEC 50 Index +42.86 +0.41% 10,398.62

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