Tokyo — Asian stocks inched up on Friday, following a tech-led rise on Wall Street. However, the latest exchange of trade threats between Beijing and Washington limited gains and drove safe-haven flows to the dollar, which brushed a two-week high. Investors also remain cautious ahead of the July US jobs report, due later on Friday, which will give a reading on the health of the world’s largest economy and possible clues about the pace of Federal Reserve interest rate rises. Spread betters expected European stocks to focus more on the overnight rise by US shares and open higher, with Britain’s FTSE rising 0.55%, Germany’s DAX gaining 0.35% and France’s CAC adding 0.5%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan swerved in and out of the red and was last up 0.02%. The index was still down more than 0.6% for the week, though, due to the US-China trade tension. The trade war between the world’s top two economies intensified midweek after US President Donald Trump raised ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.