Asian Stocks Calm Down after a Week of Losses

Asian stock markets were mostly higher Friday during the Asian trade hours as regional traders were cautious after days of selling off shares. Traders are digesting news that the U.S. Federal Reserve Board will consider slowing down their rate hike cycle in 2019. This is a change from earlier remarks as the Fed is concerned with slowing economic growth.

The Asian benchmark in Japan, the Nikkei 225, was higher today. Shares gained 0.47 percent in the afternoon, Hong Kong time. The benchmark in Tokyo, the Topix index reversed earlier losses to move up 0.40 percent.

In Japanese corporate news, Softbank announced that there was no change to their earnings and dividend forecasts. This comes after a mobile service outage on Thursday. Shares of Softbank, which sold off yesterday, extended losses. They were down by nearly 2.3 percent.

In South Korea, the Kospi composite index was up. This benchmark gained 0.3 percent. Shares of chipmaker SK Hynix gained 1.67 percent.

Asian Traders send Chinese Benchmarks Higher this Morning

Chinese benchmarks, had been hard hit this week but were up by the end of the morning. The Shanghai composite was up a fraction. The smaller Shenzhen composite was up 0.117 percent.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.27 percent.

In The Down Under, the benchmark S&P ASX 200 was also higher. Shares advanced 0.38 percent by the afternoon trade hours. Most of the sub-sectors were higher. This was a recovery from yesterday when this benchmark was down due to a broader regional selloff.