International Markets - Asian markets rebound ahead of weekend

Asian markets rebound ahead of weekend

Asian markets were mostly higher on the back of higher crude-oil and metals prices, with resource stocks such as Inpex Holdings and commodities trader Marubeni Corp. leading a rebound in Tokyo, while bargain buying in PetroChina Co. helped an advance in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Average jumped 1.7% to 12,820.47, reversing direction after dropping as low as 12,507.68 earlier in the day as inflation rose by 1% - fastest pace in a decade.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 2.7% to 23,285.95, while China's Shanghai Composite soared 4.9% to 3,580.15, after sinking more than 5% in the previous session.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200, which fell sharply earlier in the day, pared most of those losses on the back of mining stocks. The index was recently down 0.3% at 5,401.20.

South Korea's Kospi rose 1.5% to 1,701.83, New Zealand's NZX 50 index rose 1.3% to 3,447.50. Taiwan's weighted index gained 0.2% to 8,623.48.

In afternoon trading, the Singapore's Straits Times Index added 0.6% at 3,043.48 while India's Sensex rose up by 0.8% to16,157.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar bought 99.38 yen in Asia versus 99.59 yen in New York late Thursday.

May crude-oil futures dropped as much as 31 cents to $107.27 a barrel in electronic trading, after the contract ended up $1.68 at $107.58 a barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

European stocks opened in tight range today after data from Nationwide showed the slowest house price growth in the U.K. for 12 years. According to the figures released, U.Ks. house prices fell 0.6% in March. On an annualized basis, house prices rose by 1.1% in March -- a level not seen since March 1996 -- compared to growth of 2.7% a month ago. In the opening trade, the U.K. FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1% to 5,714.80, the German DAX 30 index fell 0.2% to 6,564.09 and the French CAC-40 index lost 0.2% to 4,708.03.

The day ahead is we will have Gross Domestic Product from United Kingdom accompanied by the current account details. In the evening we have Core Personal Consumption Expenditure Index followed by personal income and spending details. It will be followed by Reuter/Michigan consumer sentiment index. In the late we evening we have consumer price index from Germany.