Asian markets advanced on Friday, shrugging off a weak PMI report from China. The Nikkei rallied 1.5% to 8766, and the Kospi surged 1.8%, both settling at their highest close in months. The Shanghai Composite climbed 1% to 2319, and the Hang Seng gained .8% to 20110, reaching a 3.5 month high as it crossed back above the 20000 mark. Australia’s ASX 200 lagged slightly behind, rising .6%.
In Europe, stocks closed slightly lower, but closed higher for the week. The FTSE, DAX, and CAC40 all eased .2%,
US stocks ended mixed as investors reacted to a heavy dose of earnings news. The Dow rallied 97 points to 12720, the S&P 500 gained .1%, while the Nasdaq closed down fractionally. The VIX tumbled 8% to 18.28.
Google shares tumbled 8.4% to 586, after falling short of analyst estimates. The company had beaten estimates on revenue for 8 straight quarters.
Microsoft and IBM shares advanced on solid earnings reposts, gaining 5.7% and 4.4% respectively.
Talbots shares rocketed up 18.6% on takeover rumors.
Currencies
The Pound advanced .6% to 1.5574, thanks to upbeat retails sales data which showed a gain of .6%, after last month’s .5% decline. The Australian Dollar rallied .7% to 1.0494. The Euro slipped .3% to 1.2935, settling in the middle of its daily range, while the Yen ticked up .1% to 77.03.
Economic Outlook
Existing home sales rose by 5% to an annualized rate of 4.61M, up from last month’s 4.39M reading, but fell slightly short of analyst forecasts.