Investing.com - Share markets in the Asian Pacific region opened higher on Friday, following modest gains on Wall Street overnight.
By 11:10 am AEST (1:10 am GMT), the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.7%, the KOSPI 200 lifted 0.1% and the Nikkei 225 gained 0.9%.
In North America, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite saw gains for the third consecutive session on Thursday as investors anticipate a key inflation report. Both indexes are not far off from their record highs achieved earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average also saw a small increase of about 0.1%.
Investors are eagerly awaiting fresh insight into the U.S. economy with the release of the personal-consumption expenditures price index on Friday. This inflation gauge from the Fed is expected to show a 2.6% rise in May from a year earlier.
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In the bond and commodity markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year note slipped to 4.287%, down from 4.315% on Wednesday. Brent crude oil was up 1.3% to US$86.39 a barrel, while gold stayed flat at US$2,326.70.
In Asia, Chinese shares ended lower, primarily due to retail and auto stocks. Hong Kong shares also closed lower, with tech and consumer stocks dragging the market down. Japanese stocks followed suit, with brokerage and pharmaceutical stocks leading the losses. On a brighter note, Indian shares continued their upward momentum, closing higher for the fourth consecutive session.
In Europe, UK stocks slipped with the FTSE 100 Index falling 0.6%. Major companies such as Next 15 Group PLC and Currys PLC posted significant declines. However, DS Smith PLC saw the largest gain during the session, surging 16%. European shares closed mixed, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index down 0.4%, while Germany's DAX rose 0.3%.