Asian share markets rise on Wall St, oil gains

Asian share markets rose on Friday, after Wall Street’s latest record close.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 recovered from early losses to gain 0.1 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite index also advanced, reports AP.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.1 per cent to 23,712.27. South Korea’s Kospi gave up early gains, slipping 0.1 per cent to 2,485.18.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.4 per cent to 31,245.86 and the Shanghai Composite index added 0.1 per cent to 3,429.24.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2 per cent to 6,077.50. Shares were higher in Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

Major US benchmarks ended with solid gains. The S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent to a record 2,767.56. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.8 per cent to 25,574.73.

The Nasdaq composite gained 0.8 per cent to 7,211.78.

Oil futures were mixed. Benchmark US crude slipped 22 cents to $63.58 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract gained 23 cents to settle at $63.80 per barrel on Thursday after earlier climbing as high as $64.77. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 1 cent to $69.25 per barrel.

The dollar was steady at 111.27 Japanese yen, its lowest since November.

The euro strengthened to a four-month high after the European Central Bank indicated in its latest report that it might revise the outlook for its stimulus program, rising to $1.2049 from $1.2033 late Thursday.