Investing.com – Asian stocks traded largely higher on Friday on higher inflation data in China and cue from U.S. stocks overnight, though Nikkei fell 1.16%.
National Bureau of Statistics of China reported on Friday that country’s Consumer Price Index rose to 2.5% YoY in January same as in December but against a forecast of 2.3%. The Producer Price Index however fell to 1.6% against an expected fall of 1.7% and a drop of 1.4% in December.
In Australia, the world’s second-largest iron ore mining company Rio Tinto rose 0.3% as it reported USD3.7 billion profits in the year ending December against a USD3 billion loss in the previous year. Gold mining company Newcrest Mining fell 2.2% as its first-half net profit went down due to falling gold prices.
Nikkei fell 1.16%, Shanghai rose 0.50%, Hang Seng was up 0.54% and S&P/ASX rose 0.79%.
On Thursday solid fourth-quarter earnings sent U.S. stocks rising and offset weak retail sales and jobless claims reports.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.40%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.58%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.94%.
Robust fourth-quarter earnings from tire producer Goodyear Tire & Rubber and broadcaster CBS sent stocks gaining on Thursday, giving investors room to focus on corporate fundamentals and less on economic recovery.
Also on Thursday, shares rose on reports Comcast Corp. agreed to acquire Time Warner Cable Inc. for USD45.2 billion in stock.
Weak data watered down gains only slightly.
The Commerce Department reported earlier that U.S. retail sales fell 0.4% in January, confounding expectations for a 0.3% increase. December’s figure was revised down to a decline of 0.1% from a previously reported 0.2% increase.
Core retail sales came in flat in January compared to expectations for a 0.1% rise.
Elsewhere, the Department of Labor reported that the number of individuals who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose by 8,000 to 339,000 from the previous week’s total of 331,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to fall by 1,000.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included AT&T, up 1.2768%, UnitedHealth, up 1.39%, and Boeing, up 1.03%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Cisco, down 2.91%, 3M, down 0.21%, and American Express, down 0.14%.