Asian Shares Mixed Despite Signs Of Cooling U.S. Inflation

Shares were mixed Friday in Asia after a muddled day on Wall Street, where benchmarks meandered following another encouraging report about inflation, Elaine Kurtenbach reported for the Associated Press (AP) early on August 13, 2022.

Photo Insert: Seoul’s Kospi edged 0.2%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 surged 2.5%, catching up on gains after being closed Thursday for a holiday. Hong Kong and Seoul also advanced, while Shanghai and Sydney declined. U.S. futures edged higher and oil prices fell.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 683 points to 28,503.25 in morning trading. Seoul’s Kospi edged 0.2% higher and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong picked up 0.3% to 20,146.93. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.8% to 7,013.00 while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.2% to 3,276.53. Shares fell in India but rose in Taiwan.

In other trading Friday, US benchmark crude oil shed 46 cents to $93.88 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped $2.41 to $94.34 per barrel on Thursday.

Brent crude oil, the basis for pricing for international trading, declined 43 cents to $99.17 per barrel. The US dollar rose to 133.14 Japanese yen from 133.03 yen. The euro fell to $1.0321 from $1.0322.

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