In Asian trading Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.31% as Asian equities were boosted by comments issued Thursday from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.
The euro slipped after European Central Bank President Mario said that the central bank’s monetary policy will “remain accommodative as long as needed”.
He added that rates will stay low for an “extended period of time.” Draghi’s comments came after the ECB held its benchmark interest rate at a record low 0.50% in July, in line with expectations. Goldman Sachs said the ECB "is more likely than not to ease further from here."
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.32% while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.24%. On Thursday, China announced it suspended industry-specific data from being included in its monthly survey of manufacturing purchasing managers.
The China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing, which compiles the data with the National Bureau of Statistics, said there is limited time in which to accurately process the data from a massive number of companies and industry groups.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.8% and is head for a weekly gain after getting a lift from materials and financial services shares.
The Aussie rallied against the British pound after the Bank of England left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5% on Thursday and said economic data over the past few months was consistent with the recovery set out by the bank in its May inflation report, but warned that the "significant upward movement" in bond yields would weigh on the outlook for growth.
“In the Committee’s view, the implied rise in the expected future path of Bank Rate was not warranted by the recent developments in the domestic economy”, the BoE said.
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 advanced 0.68% while South Korea’s Kospi inched up 0.13%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.63%.
S&P 500 futures surged 0.91%. U.S. markets were closed Thursday in observance of the Independence Day holiday.
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