HONG KONG: Asian shares edged up on Friday, building on Wall Street's positive lead after a set of strong U.S. corporate earnings, although worries about the Chinese economy capped gains.
Oil prices were at multi-year highs, a drag on growth in energy-importing markets in north Asia, but good news for some energy-exporting markets in Southeast Asia.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 1.07%, and was set for a 1.7% weekly gain, which would be its best weekly performance since early September, while Japan's Nikkei surged 1.81%, led by tech stocks.
Index futures suggested the rally was set to follow into European markets. Pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.36% and FTSE futures gained 0.31%. U.S. stock futures gained 0.3%.
...