Japanese stocks shot higher Friday, as an overnight advance on Wall Street and a weakened yen combined with upbeat industrial-production data to lift sentiment, while other Asian markets also saw gains.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average jumped another 3.3% on top of Thursday’s 3% rally, recording a climb of more than 30% in the first half of 2013. The broader Topix improved by 3.2%, as the U.S. dollar advanced toward the ¥99-handle, with analysts eyeing further weakness for Japan’s currency.
Light sweet crude futures for delivery in August are trading up 7 cents at $ 97.14 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose to one-week high on Thursday, after official data showed that U.S. jobless claims declined last week while consumer spending increased last month.
The data came after the Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, compared to expectations for a drop of 10,000 to 345,000.
A separate report showed that U.S. personal spending was up 0.3% in May, in line with expectations. The data also showed personal income increased 0.5%, above expectations for a 0.2% increase.
Investors had scaled back expectations that the Federal Reserve will start tapering bond purchases this year following a downward revision to U.S. first quarter growth on Wednesday.
The Fed’s stimulus program is viewed by many investors as a key driver in boosting the price of commodities as it tends to depress the value of the dollar.
Meanwhile, oil prices drew further support after official data showed that profits at China’s industrial companies jumped 15.5% in May from a year earlier, higher than April’s 9.3% gain. Market sentiment received a further boost amid improvement in China’s strained money markets.
MCX July crude oil futures may open today’s session near Rs 5855 levels with resistance near Rs 5890 levels.
Source by Commodity Insights
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