Stock Exchange Asia, Feb 24 (BNA): Stocks were mixed in Asia on Friday after Wall Street snapped its longest losing streak since December with a modest rise led by technology stocks.
Benchmarks rose in Tokyo and Sydney but fell in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul. Oil prices rose while US futures fell, according to the Associated Press.
Japan announced that its core consumer price index excluding volatile fresh foods rose by the most in 41 years in January. But the candidate for the head of the central bank, economist Kazuo Ueda, told lawmakers he preferred to keep Japan’s benchmark interest rate near zero to ensure stable growth.
In other trading on Friday, US benchmark crude oil rose 67 cents to $76.06 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the basis for pricing international trade, rose 67 cents to $82.62 a barrel.
The US dollar fell to 134.68 yen from 134.70 yen. The euro rose to $1.0600 from $1.0596.
insignificant