Move FM Australian News

SYDNEY, Australia – Shares were decidedly mixed across Asia on Friday. In Japan they soared in value. In Australia they fell like a stone. In China stocks were flat.

Buyers were supported by huge stimulus and aid packages being passed by government around the world, and enormous moves to free up liquidity and to stimulate economies.

“I’m not sure what measures are left, but the reaction in stocks shows some people hoping for more stimulus thought the market was a little oversold,” Yukio Ishizuki, FX strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo.

“Currencies tell a different story. The dollar is the lead actor. The mad rush to buy dollars due to liquidity concerns is starting to fade.”

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 accelerated by 724.83 points or 3.88% to close at 19,389.43.

In Australia, the All Ordinaries went in the other direction, shedding 261.00 points or 5.08% to 4,874.50.

China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 7.29 points or 0.26% to 2,772.20.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng was modestly ahead in late trading.

On foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar continued to slide. The euro remained above the 1.1000 level which it hurdled in New York overnight. It last traded around the Sydney close at 1.1016.

The British pound was in demand at 1.2189. The Japanese yen rose to 108.91. The Swiss franc rose to 0.9633.

The Canadian dollar was stronger at 1.4061. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.6058. The New Zealand dollar firmed to 0.5932.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones rose 1,351.62 points or 6.38% to finish at 22,552.17.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 jumped 154.51 points or 6.24% to 2,630.07.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 413.24 points or 5.6% to 7,797.54.