Japan, China Stocks Up; Most Markets Closed for Holiday

Markets in Japan and mainland China rose on Friday after Wall Street made another record day. Most of the other global markets were closed for the Good Friday holiday.

The S&P 500 index SPX, +1.18%, ended over 4,000 for the first time on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.52% and the Nasdaq Composite +1.76% posted their respective gains. 

The Nikkei 225 of Japan, 1.44% added 1.1%, with SoftBank 9984, 4.42% was up more than 3%. China’s Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, 0.44% rose 0.4%, while the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, 1.01% edged up 1%. 

South Korea’s Kospi 180721, 0.53% climbed 0.7%, and stocks ticked up higher in Malaysia FBMKLCI, 0.06%. Markets in Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, and Taiwan were shut for a holiday.

U.S. exchanges will also be closed Friday. An abbreviated day for bond trading, to close at noon Eastern time.

Asia to Follow U.S. Stocks Upward Trend

Due to the holiday, Asian markets are likely to open higher on Friday. A surge of strong factory data and falling bold yields lifted the U.S. and Europe’s high benchmark stock indexes.

Making risk assets more attractive was U.S. President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion plan to rebuild America’s infrastructure. Additionally, the country’s accelerating vaccine rollouts.

Also up was the China Financial Futures Exchange CIS 300 Index Futures index, rising 1.76%. The Nikkei futures index and E-Mini S&P 500 futures index were up 1.23% and 1.18%, respectively. 

Among the Asian countries observing the Good Friday holiday are Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 hit another new high, charging past the 4,000 mark. This came after the Institute for Supply Management said its index of U.S. factory activity soared. It said the index had hit its highest level in more than 37 years in March.

The S&P 500 crept higher 1.18% to close at 4,019.87 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.76%, to 13,480.11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, ticking up only 0.52%, to 33,153.21.

The IHS Markit’s Manufacturing PMI’s survey near 24-year history showed eurozone factories were at their fastest pace in growth. After this, Germany’s DAX index scaled a new peak.

On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department said that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week. After this, long bond yields declined.

The 10-year Treasury yield has continued to fall, down 7.3 basis points to 1.674%. Moreover, markets await the March U.S. nonfarm payroll data on Friday.