Asia-Pacific Stocks Jump in Morning Trading

At the same time, the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics reported that the country’s GDP had fallen by 6.8 percent or 20,650.4 billion yuan ($3 trillion) year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, which showed the first recorded GDP decrease in China since 1992.

Stocks in Asia opened positively on Friday, gaining ground after the decrease in the previous day’s session.

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 rose almost 2.6%, as shares of index heavyweights Fast Retailing and Softbank Group surged 4.95 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.

South Korea’s Kospi skyrocketed 3.5 percent, while the Kosdaq Composite Index went up 1.5 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 2.36 percent, as the Shanghai Composite jumped 0.65 percent and the Shenzhen Composite added 1.16 percent.

Australian stocks went up too, with the S&P/ASX 200 gaining 2.22 percent.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index increased by almost 1 percent.

In the morning trading on Thursday, Asia-Pacific stocks dropped, ranging from the Shanghai Composite’s fall of 0.27 percent to Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac’s decrease of 2 percent each. Overall in the region, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index dropped 0.76 percent on the day.

Sourse: sputniknews.com