Asian markets mostly edged higher on Thursday in the morning. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell below 9600 points level for the first time in about four months. Nikkei eased its early gains after a real estate company Tokyo Tatemono said it will issue new shares to raise up to 45.64 billion yen. The Korean market was up on Thursday led by gains in key technology companies.
On Friday, the US stocks were boosted by the encouraging earnings from major retailers and The Walt Disney Co. A record number of U.S. companies beat earnings expectations in the third quarter. This week a new round of economic data including retail sales, inflation readings and housing starts will be the focus after most corporate results already reported.
Asian stocks markets were mostly higher on Wednesday. The Japanese market was buoyed by the positive machinery orders data, and the U.S. dollar dropped sharply against the yen after the data. World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on a conference in Singapore today that the US dollar's role as a reserve currency is intact, but the Chinese yuan could provide an alternative in the next 10-15 years.
Wall Street posted a small gain on Friday despite the Labour Department report showed the US unemployment rate broke above 10 per cent in October, up from 9.8 per cent in September. But the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in more than a year.
Overnight the Dow index and S&P's 500 index posted their biggest falls in three months as the worse-than-expected manufacturing activity data in September and new jobless claims led to a broad sell-off. These figures overshadowed improvements in pending home sales, personal spending and construction spending, and dampened investors confidence on the economy recovery.
Overnight the US stocks slid over disappointing data in regional economy, as well as worries on the crucial data ahead including personal income, consumer spending, weekly jobless claims, manufacturing and home sales.
The US market fell into mood swings and closed in the red last week. On Friday, the disappointing sales by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion dragged the technology companies lower. For the week, the Dow index lost 155 points, or 1.58 per cent. This week the market will be tested by crucial data including September non-farm payrolls, final second-quarter gross domestic product and several other big economic reports.
