Asian stock markets close Friday with gains

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Major Asian stock markets ended Friday with gains ahead of the lunar new year holidays.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, rose 0.60% to 3,487.46.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange increased 0.56% to close at 26,553.53.

Japan's core inflation has hit 4%, the highest in 41 years, according to data from the Statistics Bureau of Japan on Friday.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, saw the largest hike on Friday, up 1.82% to 22,044.65 points.

The annual consumer inflation rate in Hong Kong hit 2% in December 2022, up from 1.8% in November.

China's Shanghai stock exchange, meanwhile, climbed 0.76% from the previous close to 3,264.81 points.

China on Friday kept its benchmark interest rates unchanged for the fifth consecutive month, in line with the market forecast.

The Singapore benchmark index added 0.54% to 3,293.71 points while the Indian Sensex benchmark fell 0.39% to 60,621.77.