SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Friday morning trade following days of turbulent trading in Asia-Pacific this week as investors continue to monitor the situation surrounding the omicron Covid variant.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.18% while the Topix index gained 0.24%. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.4%.
Shares in Australia edged higher in morning trade as the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.22%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.08% lower.
Shares on Wall Street saw a sharp rebound overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging 617.75 points to 34,639.79 while the S&P 500 gained 1.42% to 4,577.10. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.83% to 15,381.32.
Stocks around the world have been swinging wildly between gains and losses for much of this week as uncertainty remains around the economic impact of the recently discovered omicron variant. As more cases of omicron are being detected globally, experts say the new strain had likely already been circulating for some time.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.156 after a recent recovery from below 96.
The Japanese yen traded at 113.03 per dollar, still stronger than levels above 113.4 seen against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7083, off levels above $0.715 seen earlier in the week.
Source: CNBC