Results were meager on several bourses in the Asia-Pacific region on Friday, after another day marked by a somewhat subdued mood on Wall Street as the Nasdaq fell for the fifth day in a row.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei index rose 0.6 percent to 33,480.58 points, while the broader Topix index added 0.7 percent to 2,395.33 points after Jibun Bank/Markit Economics released figures showing the composite purchasing managers index rose to 50.0 in December – from 49.6 points. In month. before.
A potential turning point
This could be a potential turning point, as an indicator above 50 points indicates increasing levels of activity. The purchasing managers index for the services sector rose from 50.8 to 51.5.
In mainland China, the CSI 300 large-cap index rose 0.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell by 0.2%.
We also take into account that the Kospi is down 0.3 per cent, with the Sydney Stock Exchange down 0.1 per cent.
The most important of the month
On Friday, investors will look forward to the non-farm payrolls report from the US, which many consider the most important headline number of the month.
According to Trading Economics, the pre-report consensus is for 170,000 non-farm jobs to be created in December, which in this case would be down from 199,000 in November.
The unemployment rate is expected to rise from 3.7 to 3.8 percent, while the consensus for average (monthly) wage growth is a decline from 0.4 to 0.3 percent.
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