HONG
KONG: Asian markets were mixed Friday as earlier gains from promising
US jobs figures and hopes for upcoming Chinese economic data were offset
by concerns over the global economy.
Japanese shares were
also hit by a plunge in telecom giant Softbank after it emerged it is
eyeing a near $13 billion deal to buy Sprint Nextel of the United
States, in what would be one of Japan's biggest ever overseas deals.
Tokyo
closed 0.15 percent, or 12.66 points, lower at 8,534.12, Sydney was
flat, edging up 3.1 points to 4,486.6 and Seoul was also almost
unchanged, nudging 0.17 points higher to 1,933.26.
In the afternoon Hong Kong added 0.55 percent while Shanghai eased 0.10 percent.
Hopes
for the US economy were given a boost Thursday when the Labor
Department said insurance benefits plunged unexpectedly last week to the
lowest level since February 2008.
New jobless claims, a sign of
the pace of layoffs, came in at 339,000 in the week to October 6, far
below the previous week's 369,000 and the then four-week average of
375,500.
Those figures come on top of data last week showing the unemployment rate had fallen to 7.8 percent in September.
But on Wall Street the Dow fell 0.14 percent while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were both flat.
Eyes
are now on China, which will release on Saturday its trade figures for
September, with investors hoping for an improvement on recent months
that have revealed tumbling exports and imports as the demand in key
markets dries up.
Beijing will on Monday release inflation data, followed by crucial gross domestic product figures.
Traders
are also hoping leaders will soon introduce a fresh round of stimulus
as a once-in-a-decade leadership transition approaches next month.
Investors
are, however, still concerned after the International Monetary Fund
this week slashed its growth forecasts across the world, citing the
festering debt crisis in Europe, a stuttering recovery in the United
States and a slowdown in China.
Adding to the worries is Spain's
continued refusal to ask for a bailout from international lenders
despite the terrible state of its finances.
In Tokyo, broad
advances stoked by a weak yen were held back by a 16.68 percent slump in
Softbank, the country's third biggest telecoms firm, after it said it
was in talks to buy Sprint for $12.8 billion.
Kenji Shiomura,
strategist at Daiwa Securities, said: "Investors were discouraged by the
possibility that the company could be saddled with a heavy financial
burden.
"Putting aside the point of whether the deal could be successful in the long run, the market is cautious."
On
forex markets the euro benefited from increased risk sentiment. In
early trade it bought $1.2930, compared with $1.2926 late Thursday in
New York, while it was also up at 101.31 yen from 101.25 yen.
The dollar gained to 78.35 yen from 78.33 yen.
Oil
prices were mixed. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for
delivery in November, rose 23 cents to $92.30 a barrel while Brent North
Sea crude for November shed 24 cents to $115.47.
Gold was at $1,769.70 at 0600 GMT compared with $1,770.18 late on Thursday.
In other markets:
Taipei fell 0.20 percent, or 14.68 points, to 7,437.04.
TSMC rose 0.94 percent to Tw$86.3 while Chunghwa Telecom fell 0.64 percent to Tw$92.8
Wellington rose 0.34 percent, or 13.35 points, to 3,896.66.
Chorus added 0.6 percent to NZ$3.36 and Fletcher Building was up 0.1 percent at NZ$7.25
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