TOKYO — Asian stock indexes rose moderately in quiet holiday trading on Good Friday as some markets were closed.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225
edged up 0.6% in early trading. South Korea’s Kospi
rose 0.3% and the Shanghai Composite
gained 0.6%.
Some markets remain closed for a national holiday, including in the U.S., Hong Kong, Australia and parts of Europe.
Among individual stocks, Nintendo
surged in Tokyo trading after the videogame company said it was teaming with Tencent
to sell its Switch gaming console in China, potentially open up a lucrative new market. Nissan shares
fell after a report that the auto maker would slash global output by 15% this fiscal year. SK Hynix
jumped in South Korea, as Samsung
rose slightly.
Overnight, major U.S. stock indexes capped the holiday shortened week with slight gains, although the marginal upward move was not enough to keep the benchmark S&P 500 index from snapping a string of three straight weekly gains.
The S&P 500
gained 4.58 points, or 0.2%, to 2,905.03. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
rose 110 points, or 0.4%, to 26,559.54. The Nasdaq composite
inched 1.98 points higher, or less than 0.1%, to 7,998.06.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil
added 7 cents to $64.07 a barrel. It rose 0.4% to settle at $64 per barrel Thursday. Brent crude
, the international standard, added 0.5% to $71.97 per barrel.
The dollar
rose slightly to 111.92 Japanese yen from 111.89 yen late Thursday.
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