It was a mixed finish in Asia today, while European stocks have slipped ahead of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls release
It was a hot-and-cold session in Asia, with traders taking a cue from
Wall Street's choppy Thursday action ahead of today's release of U.S. nonfarm payrolls for October. China's Shanghai Composite extended its run into
bull-market territory, closing up 1.9%. On the other hand, Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled 0.8% lower, pressured by heavy losses for the locally listed shares of London's Standard Chartered on the heels of a Fitch downgrade. Meanwhile, South Korea's Kospi erased early gains to end down 0.4%, while a cooling yen helped Japan's Nikkei finish 0.8% higher.
European markets are pointed modestly lower at midday. Luxury retailers are among the top laggards following an earnings miss from Switzerland's Richemont, with the Van Cleef & Arpels parent warning that the rest of the year will be "challenging" amid an "extremely difficult" environment in Hong Kong and Macau. At last check, the French CAC 40 is off 0.9%, London's FTSE 100 has shed 0.2%, and Germany's DAX is down 0.1%.
