Asian Stocks Rise In Holiday-thinned Trade

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose in thin post-Christmas trading Friday after a report showed new claims for U.S. unemployment insurance fell for the fifth week in a row last week, a sign that the labor market is steadily improving as the year ends. However, gains remained capped due to lack of trading cues from Wall Street and amid holidays in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and New Zealand.

The safe-haven Japanese yen fell toward a seven-year low and gold prices rose in thin trading as the dollar slipped against a basket of major currencies. U.S. crude futures traded above $56 a barrel and Brent crude prices rose above $60 a barrel after a rocket hit a storage tank at Libya's biggest oil port and Saudi Arabia's Cabinet projected a slight increase in spending for 2015, assuming an oil price of $80 a barrel.

Chinese shares soared, driven by financials amid speculation Beijing will further ease liquidity conditions for lenders. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index jumped 2.77 percent to finish at 3,157.60 after Thursday's 3.4 percent rally.

The Japanese stock market swung between gains and losses before closing marginally higher as investors reacted to a mixed bag of economic data. The benchmark Nikkei average rose 0.06 percent to 17,818.96 as the yen weakened and slowing inflation for a fourth month boosted hopes the Bank of Japan will unveil more stimulus to revive the economy.

Industrial output unexpectedly declined 0.6 percent in November, household spending fell an annual 2.5 percent and inflation continued to slow, due largely to significant fall in global oil prices and lower consumer spending, while retail sales rose 0.4 percent from a year earlier and the unemployment rate remained stable as expected, separate reports showed.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated the central bank's commitment to achieve the 2 percent inflation target as early as possible and stated that the additional stimulus was not just in response to a slump in crude oil prices. Meanwhile, minutes of the Bank of Japan's November meeting released on Thursday showed that policymakers urged the government to promote fiscal reform measures to restore the country's fiscal health.

In stock-specific action, market heavyweight Fast Retailing shed 0.6 percent, while SoftBank Corp edged up 0.2 percent and Fanuc rose 0.4 percent. Shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced 0.7 percent after a unit of the banking major agreed to buy Citigroup Inc.'s Japanese consumer banking business. Kitchen appliances maker Zojirushi Corp tumbled 5.4 percent after forecasting a 31 percent drop in profit.

Seoul shares edged higher in the wake of positive cues from Wall Street Wednesday. The benchmark Kospi average edged up 0.08 percent to 1,948.16 on institutional buying ahead of ex-dividend date.

Elsewhere, Malaysia's KLSE Composite index was moving up 0.7 percent, Singapore's Straits Times index was up 0.1 percent and the Taiwan Weighted average added 0.6 percent, while India's Sensex was declining 0.3 percent.

Singapore's industrial production declined unexpectedly in November, a monthly report from the Economic Development Board revealed. Industrial output fell 2.8 percent from last year, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent.

U.S. stocks ended flat in a holiday-shortened session on Wednesday, with the Dow edging up marginally to reach a fresh record closing high and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gaining 0.2 percent, while the S&P 500 ended unchanged with a negative bias.

In economic news, the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits reached its lowest level in seven weeks in the week ended December 20, underscoring the labor market's broad recovery in the final stretch of the year.