Asian stock markets close Friday mixed

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) – Asian stock markets closed Friday with mixed figures amid persisting concerns over both the omicron variant of coronavirus and inflation pressure.

With the rise in inflation estimated to last longer than expected, monetary policy makers continue to make statements implying that fiscal incentives can be terminated more quickly.

While the tightened measures in Asia, especially in Japan, amid soaring coronavirus cases caused fluctuations in stock markets, hard sales in Chinese technology stocks put pressure on the Hong Kong exchange market.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, rose 6.27 points, or 0.17%, to close at around 3,747 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange was up 276 points, or 1%, to 28,029.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, diminished 22.24 points, or 0.09%, to 23,766.

China's Shanghai stock exchange was up 33.60 points, or 0.94%, to 3,607 points, while the Indian Sensex benchmark diminished 655.96 points, or 1.12%, to close at 57,805 points.

The Singapore index lost 9.39 points, or 0.30%, to 3,101.