Investors watch computer screens displaying stock price figures at a stock exchange hall.
Jiang Sheng | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets started the week higher after most major bourses ended lower in the previous session, while investors watched for changes to China’s benchmark lending rates.
The People’s Bank of China’s one-year loan prime rate — the peg for most household and corporate loans in China — is currently at 3.45%. The five-year benchmark loan rate — the peg for most mortgages — stands at 4.2%.
Hong Kong stocks led declines in Asia-Pacific on Friday, as shares of Alibaba plunged after the Chinese e-commerce giant said it would not proceed with the full spinoff of its cloud group.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,728, pointing to a higher open compared to the HSI’s close of 17,454.19.
Japan’s markets extended Friday’s gains, with the Nikkei 225 up by 0.12% and the Topix climbing 0.15%. The country will be watching for its October inflation figures on Friday.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.13%, while the small-cap Kosdaq saw a larger gain of 0.35%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.18% higher.
On Friday, the S&P 500 ended higher and clinched a third straight winning week amid a red-hot November rally.
The broader index added 0.13%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day higher by 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite crept up by 0.08%.
The main U.S. indexes clocked their third straight positive week. The S&P 500 added 2.2%, while the Nasdaq jumped about 2.4%. The Dow closed the week with a 1.9% advance. This is the first three-week win streak for the Dow and S&P 500 since July, and the first since June for the Nasdaq.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Brian Evans contributed to this report