SYDNEY, NSW, Australia – It was a choppy day for Asian stock markets on Thursday, with little to drive markets in either direction.
At the close in Tokyo on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 was down 93.18 points or 0.33 percent at 28,549.01.
China’s Shanghai Composite gained 15.49 points or 0.43 percent to 3,608.85.
Australia’s All Ordinaries climbed 12.40 points or 0.17 percent to 7,344.00, notwithstanding the second-biggest state, Victoria (in population terms), announced a 7-day lockdown to commence at midnight, following an outbreak in northern Melbourne. Technology stocks and iron ore companies led the advance.
The U.S. dollar was mixed in the Asian trading zone. The euro firmed up to 1.2200. The British pound slipped to 1.4116. The Japanese yen was unchanged at 109.12. The Swiss franc was similarly placed, trading at 0.8977.
The Canadian dollar inched up to 1.211o. The Australian dollar was slightly stronger at 0.7749. The New Zealand dollar advanced to 0.7296.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones index was ahead 10.59 points or 0.03 percent at 34,323.05.
The Standard and Poor’s 500 edged up 7.86 points or 0.19 percent to 4,195.99.
The Nasdaq Composite added 80.82 points or 0.59 percent to 13,738.00.
