Saudi Arabia stocks higher at close of trade
Saudi Arabia stock were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Real Estate Development, Cement and Energy & Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Saudi Arabia, the Tadawul All Share gained 0.15 percent.
The best performers of the session on the Tadawul All Share were Al Masane Al Kobra Mining Company CJSC, which rose 7.49 percent or 4.80 points to trade at 68.90 at the close. Meanwhile, Thimar Development Holding Co added 5.76 percent or 3.10 points to end at 56.90 and Makkah Construction&Development Co was up 4.42 percent or 4.60 points to 108.60 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Mutakamela Insurance Co, which fell 2.19 percent or 0.42 points to trade at 18.72 at the close. Tanmiah Food Company SCJSC declined 1.99 percent or 2.60 points to end at 127.80 and Saudi Industrial Investment Group was down 1.69 percent or 0.30 points to 17.40.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Saudi Arabia Stock Exchange by 164 to 135 and 45 ended unchanged.
Crude oil for March delivery was up 0.46 percent or 0.33 to $71.36 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in April rose 0.42 percent or 0.31 to hit $74.92 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.08 percent or 2.44 to trade at $2,890.56 a troy ounce.
EUR/SAR was down 0.42 percent to 3.89, while USD/SAR unchanged 0.00 percent to 3.75.
South Korean shares end lower
South Korean shares declined on Friday amid investor caution ahead of US employment data due later in the day, with battery and e-commerce firms dragging the benchmark index lower.
The KOSPI closed down 14.83 points, or 0.58 percent, at 2,521.92, ending a three-session gaining streak.
Still, the index ended the week up 0.2 percent, after a fall of 0.8 percent last week, when the market was closed for four days due to Lunar New Year holidays.
US job growth likely slowed in January, though not enough for the Federal Reserve to resume interest rate cuts before the end of the first half, according to a Reuters poll.
China, HK stocks poised to end week higher
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index climbed 1.7 percent by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.3 percent. Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng added 1.5 percent.
The Hang Seng Index soared 4.9 percent so far this week, on track to log the best performance in four months, while the CSI 300 Index has risen 2.4 percent.
“DeepSeek a re-rating catalyst. The development of DeepSeek has attracted the attention of global markets – it reconfirmed China’s continued ability to innovate,” HSBC analysts said.
Japan’s Nikkei trades lower
Japan’s Nikkei share average fell on Friday as a stronger yen dampened appetite. However, investors scooped up stocks with a strong outlook, capping declines.
The Nikkei had dropped 0.4 percent to 38,899.19 as of 0205 GMT and was set to lose 1.7 percent for the week.
The broader Topix slipped 0.37 percent to 2,742.11.
“With the yen on the rise, the market was worried that the Japanese firms’ earnings next (fiscal) year would not be as strong as this year,” said Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager at the research department at Tachibana Securities.
Indian shares set to open higher
Indian shares are set to open higher on Friday, ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy decision, in which the central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates to support slowing economic growth.
The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 23,717.5 as of 07:28 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open above Thursday’s close of 23,603.35.
The Nifty 50 has risen about 0.5 percent so far this week but is down about 4.4 percent from the previous policy meeting on December 6, 2024, hurt by slowing growth and corporate earnings.
The RBI is widely expected to deliver its first rate cut since May 2020 on Friday, a week after India’s federal government cut personal income tax to boost consumption.
The rate decision is due at 10:00 a.m. IST in Mumbai.
Asia stocks tick up
Asian stocks inched up on Friday ahead of key U.S. payrolls data as investors considered prospects that a broader trade war could be averted, while the yen hit its highest in nearly two months on rising odds of more rate hikes in Japan this year.
In a week that started with U.S. President Donald Trump kicking off a trade war, first by imposing tariffs on Mexico and Canada and then pausing them, investors have been hesitant in making major moves as threatened duties on China were implemented.
Beijing’s measured tit-for-tat response has left room for negotiations, analysts say, and that has allowed traders to focus on the AI theme in Asia in the wake of Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek’s breakthrough.
| GDP Growth Rate (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Last | Previous | Reference |
| Argentina | 3.9 | -1.7 | Sep/24 |
| United States | 2.3 | 3.1 | Dec/24 |
| China | 1.6 | 1.3 | Dec/24 |
| India | 1.1 | 1.1 | Sep/24 |
| Brazil | 0.9 | 1.4 | Sep/24 |
| Netherlands | 0.8 | 1.1 | Sep/24 |
| Spain | 0.8 | 0.8 | Dec/24 |
| Indonesia | 0.53 | 1.5 | Dec/24 |
| Switzerland | 0.4 | 0.6 | Sep/24 |
| Australia | 0.3 | 0.2 | Sep/24 |
| Canada | 0.3 | 0.5 | Sep/24 |
| Japan | 0.3 | 0.5 | Sep/24 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0.3 | 0.9 | Dec/24 |
| Singapore | 0.1 | 3.2 | Dec/24 |