Investing.com - Shares in Shanghai edged higher on Friday with solid GDP and retail sales data aiding sentiment along with a slightly stronger yuan.
The Shanghai Composite rose 0.09%, while the the People's Bank of China set the yuan central parity rate against the dollar stronger at 6.6805 on Friday compared with 6.6846 on Thursday.
GDP figures out of China showed a 6.7% gain in the second quarter ended June year-on-year period, beating the 6.6% rise seen, and also rose 1.8% quarter-on-quarter, better than the 1.6% increase expected.
Also in China, fixed asset investment rose 9.0%, less than the 9.4% year-on-year gain seen in June, while industrial production gained 6.2%, better than 5.9% seen in the same period and retail sales rose 10.6%, a tad better than 10.0% seen.
The S&P/ASX 200 also gained 0.68% with China the country's top trading partner and the Nikkei 225 rose 1.16%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks rose sharply, remaining in record territory for the fourth consecutive session, on the back of stellar quarterly results from JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:NYSE:JPM), which kicked off the second quarter earnings season for major banks by topping analysts' earnings and revenues forecasts on Thursday.
JPMorgan, the world's largest bank, ended the second quarter with revenues of $25.2 billion, amid a stellar period among its Fixed Income division over the last three months. For the quarter, FICC revenue soared 35% to $3.96 billion, while sales from equities trading rose by 1.5% on the period, boosting the company's overall bottom line. Consequently, JPMorgan finished with adjusted EPS of 1.55, beating analysts' EPS forecasts of 1.46 by a wide margin.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 134.29 or 0.73% to 18,506.41, while the S&P 500 Composite index gained 11.32 or 0.53% to 2,163.75, each falling back slightly after hitting fresh all-time record highs. The Dow traded as high as 18,537.33 on Thursday, hitting a record intraday high for the third straight session. At the same time, the S&P 500 peaked at 2,168 during the session, marking the fourth consecutive day that the broader index reached an all-time intraday high. Both indices ended the day at all-time closing highs.
On the S&P 500, nine of 10 sectors closed in the green, as stocks in the Basic Materials, Financials and Technology industries led. Stocks in the Utility sector lagged, closing the day as the lone industry in the red. Meanwhile, the NASDAQ Composite index rose by 28.33 or 0.57% to 5,034.06, moving back into positive territory for the calendar year.