Asian shares gain ahead of key data; oil recovery

Annabelle Liang, Associated Press

Update

23:26 PST, Sunday 11 November 2018

SINGAPORE (AP) – Asian markets were generally up Monday ahead of key economic data, such as China and Japan's industrial production figures later in the week.

KEEP THE SCORE: Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.1% to 22,269.88. Hang Seng of Hong Kong rose 0.1% to 25,622.40. The Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.9% to 2,621.59. The Australian S & P-ASX 200 gained 0.3% to 5,941.30. But Kospi in South Korea fell 0.5% to 2,076.54. Stocks were stable in Thailand but lower in Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

WALL STREET: Technology stocks and the internet plunged on Friday because of worries about Chinese growth and poor forecasts from companies such as video game maker Activision Blizzard and chip maker Skyworks Solutions. The S & P 500 index lost 0.9% to 2,781.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell 0.8% to 25,989.30, and the Nasdaq index fell 1.6% to 7,406.90. The Russell 2000 Small Business Equity Index fell 1.8% to 1 549.49.

REGIONAL GROWTH: Traders eagerly await industrial production data from China and Japan on Wednesday. They will look for clues of a recovery in the Chinese economy, where auto sales fell for the fourth consecutive month in October. Concerns about China's slowing economic growth and its smoldering trade dispute with the United States weighed on global equity markets.

ANALYST: "Attacks on worries about tightening conditions and escalating trade tensions are still weighing on the Asian markets, and with the poor results of last Friday's movements, a gradual start is expected for the regional indices" , said Jingyi Pan, of IG a market comment.

ENERGY: Oil futures rallied on the news that major producers planned to cut production. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Sunday that the kingdom would cut exports of about 500,000 barrels a day from November to December. Russian Oil Minister Alexander Novak said his country was open to cuts at a meeting of oil producers in Abu Dhabi. The benchmark US crude rebounded after 10 days of losses, adding 79 cents to 60.98 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract yielded 48 cents to 60.19 dollars in the previous session. Brent crude, used for the price of international oil, returned $ 1.33 to $ 60.98. He lost 47 cents to 70,18 dollars in London.

CURRENCY: The dollar strengthened at 114.08 yen against 113.83 yen on Friday night. The euro went from $ 1.1345 to $ 1.1304.