Stocks in Asia Mixed; Major Markets Closed for Good Friday

Stocks in Asia were mixed on Friday, with major markets across the region closed for the Good Friday holiday.

Mainland Chinese shares were lower on the day. The Shanghai composite was down 1.04% to about 2,796.63 while the Shenzhen composite dropped 1.946% to approximately 1,721.22. The Shenzhen component fell 1.57% to 10,298.41.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.79% to close at 19,498.50 while the Topix index dipped 0.92% to end its trading day at 1,430.04.

South Korea’s Kospi added 1.33% to close at 1,860.70. Shares of Samsung Biologics skyrocketed 16.82% after the firm announced Thursday that it had entered into an agreement with Vir Biotechnology for large-scale manufacturing of SARS-COV-2 antibodies for potential Covid-19 treatment. The deal is valued at around $362 million, according to a statement from the two companies.

Markets in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and India were all closed for the Good Friday holiday.

Data released Friday showed Chinese consumer inflation rising in March on a year-on-year basis. China’s consumer price index for March rose 4.3% year-on-year, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics. Still, that was less than expectations of a 4.8% year-on-year increase by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 added 1.5% to close at 2,789.82 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 285.80 points, or 1.2%, to end its trading day at 23,719.37. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.8% higher at 8,153.58.

For the week, the S&P 500 surged 12.1%. That was its biggest one-week gain since 1974, when it rallied more than 14%. The Nasdaq had its best week since 2009, jumping 10.6%. The Dow soared more than 12% for one of its biggest weekly gains on record. U.S. stock markets were also closed on Friday for Good Friday.

Meanwhile, a historic production cut agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known collectively as OPEC+, hit a snag after Mexico reportedly refused to agree to its share of the cuts.

The other members of OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, earlier in the day agreed to cuts that would take 10 million barrels per day offline as the coronavirus pandemic saps demand for crude. But after Mexico resisted its allocation, the meeting ended with no definitive agreement. Talks are now set to continue on Friday, according to a Bloomberg report citing sources familiar with the discussions.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 99.424 after slipping from levels above 100.5 seen earlier in the trading week.

The Japanese yen traded at 108.36 per dollar after seeing levels above 108.8 yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6359 after rising from levels below $0.62 earlier this week.