Asian markets close day with mixed figures

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Asian stock exchange markets closed Friday with mixed figures following surging Chinese real estate giant Evergrande's shares in markets.

The firm appeared to have averted looming default with a coupon payment on a dollar-denominated bond.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, earned 5.76 points, or 0.15%, to close at nearly 3,930 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange was also up 96.27 points, or 0.34%, to 28,804. The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, saw an increase of 109.4 points, or 0.42%, to 26,126.

China's Shanghai stock exchange was down by 12.18 points or 0.34% to reach 3,582 points and the Indian Sensex benchmark saw a decrease of 101.9 points, or 0.17%, to reach 61,821 points.

The Singapore index increased by 16.64 points, or 0.52%, to reach 3,205.

- European markets

Almost all major European markets were in the positive territory at the midday of the last transaction day of the week.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, was up by 3.4 points, or 0.72%, to 473.09 as of 1123GMT.

London's FTSE 100 increased 42.3 points, or 0.59%, to 7,232, and Germany's DAX index reached 15,607 points, up by 134.46 points or 0.87%.

The French CAC 40 gained 69.221 points, or 1.04%, to 6,755 points, while Italy's FTSE MIB posted an increase of 127.97 points, or 0.48%, to 26,653 points.

Spain's IBEX 35 dropped 5.2 points, or 0.06%, to 8,939 points.