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Asian shares in muted Friday trade | Asian shares in muted Friday trade |
(about 7 hours later) | |
Shares across Asia traded mixed on Friday, failing to pick up the positive lead from Wall Street. | Shares across Asia traded mixed on Friday, failing to pick up the positive lead from Wall Street. |
US markets had finished higher on expectations that job figures for February, due out later on Friday, will show a strong pace of growth. | |
Asia's biggest market, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.3% higher at 17,014.78. | |
Shares in the embattled electronics firm Sharp rose 9.4% on new reports it was close to a deal with Taiwan's Foxconn. | |
The jump came after the Nikkei business daily reported that Sharp and Foxconn parent company Hon Hai Precision Industry were continuing talks, with both sides seeking to conclude a takeover deal by Monday. | |
Earlier talks had been delayed when Foxconn said it had received new information from Sharp which needed to be clarified. | Earlier talks had been delayed when Foxconn said it had received new information from Sharp which needed to be clarified. |
BHP downgrade | BHP downgrade |
In Australia, the ASX 200 index finished the day flat at 5,090.00. | |
Shares of commodity giant BHP Billiton rose 2.4%, with investors unfazed by a downgrade by credit ratings agency Moody's. | |
Moody's cut its ratings of the Anglo-Australian firm to "A3" from "A1", citing the deterioration in the company's earnings and cash flow as reasons. | Moody's cut its ratings of the Anglo-Australian firm to "A3" from "A1", citing the deterioration in the company's earnings and cash flow as reasons. |
The ratings agency also said it expected low commodity prices and softer demand to continue to affect BHP. | The ratings agency also said it expected low commodity prices and softer demand to continue to affect BHP. |
Samsonite bags Tumi | Samsonite bags Tumi |
Chinese shares were equally lacklustre with the mainland benchmark Shanghai Composite index trading 0.4% higher at 2,872.99. | |
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.7% at 20,083.26. | |
Samsonite shares jumped 3.4% as the company confirmed that it was taking over US luxury rival Tumi. | |
In South Korea, the Kospi index finished down 0.1% at 1,955.63. |