Asian equities struggle for direction; Chinese data in focus

Asian stock indexes were mixed on Thursday, with some of them recovering from prior session losses following a strong lead from Wall Street and as investors looked ahead to China’s data.

The Nikkei 225 index found support in the energy, auto and banking sectors. Earlier this week, the Japanese benchmark rose to a 26-year peak, adding more than 3 percent so far in 2018.

Meanwhile, South Korean Kospi was up with Samsung Electronics adding nearly one percent. The Korean central bank left interest rates untouched at 1.5 percent.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded moderately higher following a positive dynamic of the country’s four biggest financial institutions.

In the US, the Dow Jones led gains with a 322.79 points advance that left the index standing above the 26,000 level for the first time in history.

US industrial production rose by 0.9 percent in December, above an estimated 0.4 percent build.

<<< Next in Europe >>>

Ahead in today’s session, traders will focus on a speech by Bundesbank’s president Weidmann at 08:00 GMT. Traders will monitor any comments regarding monetary policy.

<<< Next in the United States >>>

Ahead in today’s session focus will be at building permits and housing starts for December, as well as initial jobless claims and the Philly manufacturing index. All coming at 13:30 GMT.

As for commodity traders, attention will be directed to the release of official figures on crude and refined products by the US Energy Information Administration as of 16:00 GMT

<<< Asian Stock Indexes at 06:30 GMT >>>

Australia ASX S&P                -3.90               -0.06%            6,130.40

Shanghai Composite             +15.70            +0.46%           3,460.37

Hong Kong Hang Seng          -68.77             -0.22%            31,914.64

Japan Nikkei 225                   -104.97           -0.44%            23,763.37

Taiwan TSEC 50 Index         +66.77            +0.61%           11,071.57