Asian markets opened sharply higher on Thursday in response to the announced cooperative central bank liquidity effort. The Hang Seng soared 5.6%, climbing 1013 point to 19002, leading the region. The Shanghai Composite rose 2.3%, the ASX 200 gained 2.6%, and the Nikkei advanced 1.9%. In Korea, the Kospi rallied 3.7% as Samsung Electronics surged 7% to a new record closing high.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index Surges 5.6%
In Europe, the major indexes closed lower after Wednesday’s sharp rise. The DAX fell .9%, the CAC40 dropped .8%, and the FTSE slipped .3%, as investors locked in gains from the previous session.
US stocks closed mixed after a choppy session, with the Nasdaq gaining .2%, while the Dow and S&P 500 declined .2%.
Currencies
The currency market ended mixed after Wednesday’s steep dollar selloff. The Euro edged up .2% to 1.3459, and the Canadian Dollar advanced .5% to 1.0142. The Australian Dollar slipped .4% to 1.0226, and the Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen both declined by .2%.
Economic Outlook
Weekly unemployment claims unexpectedly rose to 402K from last week’s 396K reading. ISM manufacturing PMI was slightly better than expected at 52.7 vs. 51.6, and monthly auto sales rose to 13.6M from 13.3M last month.