Electronic displays reflect current stock market trends as the financial world reacts to the Tokyo COVID-19 pandemic on March 16, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
Clive Rose | Getty Images
SINGAPORE – Stocks in Japan rose Friday morning after the S&P 500 hit a record high on Wall Street overnight.
The Nikkei 225 rose 1.3% in morning trading while the Topix index rose 0.76%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.9%.
Asia Pacific markets face a sluggish trading day as key regional markets such as Australia, Hong Kong, India and Singapore close for Good Friday. Elsewhere, the US and UK markets will also be closed for Good Friday.
Overnight, the S&P 500 crossed the 4,000 threshold for the first time, jumping 1.18% to a new record high of 4,019.87. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also rose 1.76%, ending its trading day at 13,480.11, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 171.66 points to close at 33,153.21.
Currencies
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its peers, came in at 92.902 – less than 93.3 at the start of the week.
The Japanese yen was trading at 110.6 per dollar after weakening against the greenback from below 109.8 earlier in the week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7627 after rising below $ 0.756 yesterday.
