Asian stock markets close Friday with gains

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Major Asian stock markets ended Friday with gains as the sentiment recovered by governmental and institutional aids to avoid a potential banking crisis.

America’s largest lenders on Thursday announced a $30 billion lifeline for First Republic Bank, facing a possible cash crunch.

This followed the announcement of Zurich-based lender Credit Suisse receiving up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($54 billion) from the Swiss National Bank on early Thursday.

The risk appetite in the market waned this week due to raising worries about the spillover effect of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank within days.

The turmoil in the global banking sector fueled expectations that major central banks would ease policy tightening to stem a recession.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, rose 1.48 % to 3,267.85.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange gained 1.20% to close at 27,333.79.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, enjoyed the largest hike on Friday, diving 1.64% to 19,518.59 points.

China's Shanghai stock exchange increased 0.73% from the previous close to 3,250.55 points.

The People's Bank of China lowered the reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 25 basis points on Thursday, with an immediate effect.

The Singapore benchmark index rose 0.88% to 3,183.28 points while the Indian Sensex benchmark went up by 0.62% to 57,989.90.