Buildings in the central business district in Singapore, on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. Singapore’s economy expanded by a slightly more modest pace than initially expected in 2023, as manufacturing activity contracted and services growth slowed.
Nicky Loh | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets rose on Friday and are set to round off the week higher, tracking gains on Wall Street overnight after fresh economic data eased recessionary fears in the U.S.
Retail sales increased 1% in July, far surpassing Dow Jones estimate of a 0.3% uptick. Weekly jobless claims also fell for the week.
“Today’s solid retail sales and claims data is a reminder that the sky is not falling on the U.S. economy,” Wolfe Research chief economist Stephanie Roth wrote on Thursday. “Yes, economic momentum has cooled, but we don’t appear to be headed for recession imminently.”
Traders in Asia will parse revised trade data from South Korea and exports data from Singapore. Second-quarter GDP data will be out after market hours from Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.62% on open, and the broad-based Topix was 1.63% higher.
South Korea’s Kospi returned from a public holiday to trade almost 2% higher, while the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 1.53%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 saw a smaller gain of 0.59%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 17,308, also higher than the HSI’s last close of 17,109.14.