A man stands in front of a blank electronic stock board supposedly showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. Trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was suspended Thursday because of a problem in the system for relaying market information. Most other Asian markets were closed for national holidays.
Koichiro Miyahara, second from left, President and CEO of Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE), and other officers bow during a press conference at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, in Tokyo. Trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was suspended Thursday because of a problem in the system for relaying market information. Most other Asian markets were closed for national holidays.
Koichiro Miyahara, right, President and CEO of Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE), and other officers enter the venue of a press conference at Tokyo Stock Exchange Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, in Tokyo. Trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was suspended Thursday because of a problem in the system for relaying market information. Most other Asian markets were closed for national holidays.
Koichiro Miyahara, right, President and CEO of Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE), bows as he enters the venue of a press conference at Tokyo Stock Exchange Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, in Tokyo. Trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was suspended Thursday because of a problem in the system for relaying market information. Most other Asian markets were closed for national holidays.
Asian shares were mixed Friday in thin holiday trading, with markets in South Korea, Shanghai and Hong Kong closed.
The Nikkei 225 index shed strong early gains to edge 0.1% higher, to 23,211.35, as the Tokyo Stock Exchange resumed trading after an all day outage Thursday due to a technical failure.
Reports that the Japanese government is preparing new stimulus measures to help the economy recover from a prolonged downturn worsened by the coronavirus pandemic provided only a temporary lift.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.8% to 5,85.80 after the release of discouraging retail sales data. Shares in Singapore and Indonesia also fell.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher after pinballing through another shaky day of trading, as investors wait to see if Washington can get past its partisanship to deliver another economic rescue package.
The S&P 500 ended the day 0.5% higher, at 3,380.80, but it careened from an early 1% gain to a slight loss before arriving there.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 27,816.90 after earlier bouncing between a gain of 259 points and a loss of 112. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.4%, to 11,326.51 as big tech-oriented stocks propped up the market, much as they have through the pandemic.