Asian Shares Mostly Higher Before Year Ends

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(RTTNews) - Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher on Friday, even as overall gains remained capped outside Hong Kong amid worries that a new COVID variant could emerge in China as the virus spreads widely and rapidly.

U.S. health officials and the World Health Organization (WHO) have called on China to share more information on the spread of COVID in the country, saying the lack of transparency could delay the identification of new COVID variants that pose a threat to public health.

Gold edged higher as the latest U.S. labor market data led to some dollar weakness and Treasury yields backing off.

Oil edged up slightly after a three-day run of declines as more countries announce restrictions on Chinese travelers.

China's Shanghai Composite index was up 0.6 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 1.2 percent in early trade.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the global body remains concerned over the evolving situation in China due to the unavailability of an apt amount of information from the country about the outbreak.

Japan's Nikkei index was up 0.2 percent after closing off a three-month low the previous day. The yen rose against the dollar as initial optimism over China's reopening fizzled.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose half a percent while New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index was down 0.6 percent. Seoul's stock markets remain closed for New Year's holiday.

U.S. stocks rallied overnight as investors sought to snap up bargains in the tech sector, looking past worries that new variants could emerge from China's continuing COVID outbreak.

Investors also digested data showing that jobless claims rose slightly in the week ended December 24 but held near historic lows.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index surged 2.6 percent, the S&P 500 climbed 1.8 percent and the Dow added 1.1 percent.

European stocks reversed course to end higher on Thursday, tracking the broad-based rally on Wall Street on the penultimate trading day of the year.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.7 percent. The German DAX gained 1.1 percent, France's CAC 40 index advanced 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.2 percent.

Swiss Market Ends Moderately Lower

Despite a decent spell in positive territory till about an hour before noon, the Switzerland market turned weak and kept drifting lower as the session progressed on Thursday to eventually settle with a moderate loss.

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European Stocks Close Mostly Weak As Investors React To Earnings

European markets closed mostly lower on Thursday as investors reacted to a slew of earnings announcements and digested the latest batch of economic data from the region, and also followed the developments on the trade front.

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U.S. Consumer Price Growth Matches Estimates In June

A closely watched report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of June. The Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose by 0.3 percent in June after inching up by an upwardly revised 0.2 percent in May.

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German Unemployment Rises In July

Germany's unemployment increased less than expected in July but the overall number of people out of work remained close to the 3 million mark due to the prolonged period of economic slowdown, official data revealed on Thursday. The number of unemployed rose by less-than-expected 2,000 from June, the Federal Employment Agency said. For July, economists had forecast an increase of 15,000.

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U.S. Jobless Claims Inch Up Less Than Expected To 218,000

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly higher in the week ended July 26th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 218,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 217,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 224,000.

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