Asia stocks rise in abbreviated trading
Asian stock markets rise in abbreviated trading
BEIJING (AP) -- Asian stocks were mostly higher in trading muted by Good Friday observance.
Markets in Europe, the U.S. and many countries in Asia were closed for the holiday. Oil trading also was suspended.
Among the markets that traded, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.7 percent to 14,516.27 while China's Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.1 percent to 2,097.75 after data earlier this week showed economic growth slowed to its lowest level since 2012.
Seoul's Kospi added 0.6 percent to 2,004.28 and Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.3 percent to 8,966.66. Benchmarks in Malaysia and Thailand were slightly higher.
On Thursday, global stocks were subdued after Google and IBM reported weak results, even though General Electric was optimistic and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley beat expectations.
On Wall Street, the Standard & Poor's 500 rose two points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 1,864.85. The Dow Jones industrial average, however, fell 16 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 16,408.54, hurt by the big drop in IBM.
The euro inched down to $1.3820 from $1.3816 late Thursday. The dollar was little changed at 102.42 yen from 102.43 yen.
