Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Friday with a week-long holiday ahead in China next week thinning markets and regional data sets not providing any sparks.
Japan's Nikkei 225 dipped 0.18%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.22%. In Greater China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.25%, while the Hang Seng index was up 0.33%.
In Japan, CPI for August rose 0.7% as expected on year for national CPI and for national core CPI. As well, Japan reports household spending rose 0.2%, beating the fall of 0.2% on month in August seen and up 0.6% on year, below the expected 0.6% gain.
Unemployment came in steady at 2.8% and retail sales rose 1.7%, below the 2.6% increase seen on year.
Abe faces defections from his LDP party ahead of the Oct. 2 polls and a strong rallying point for opposition-minded voters in the governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike.
Australia reported private sector credit, rose 0.5% as expected on month in August.
Toshiba on Thursday signed an agreement to sell its memory chip unit to a group led by Bain Capital for 2 trillion yen ($18 billion), but Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC), which is involved in a joint venture with the Japanese conglomerate, has sought an injunction. Toshiba shares rose 0.98%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday as upbeat economic data showing the U.S. economy expanded at a faster pace than expected in the second quarter offset investor uncertainty over how President Donald Trump’s plans for tax reform will evolve into legislation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 22381. The S&P 500 closed 0.12% higher while the Nasdaq Composite closed at flat 6453.45.
In what a busy day for top-tier economic data releases, investors had to contend with economic reports showing initial jobless claims undershot expectations while second quarter economic growth was better than expected.
Gross domestic product increased at a 3.1% annual rate in the April-June period, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate on Thursday, beating a previous estimate of 3%.
Fresh on the heels of the upbeat economic growth data, a labor market report showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that initial jobless claims increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 272,000 for the week ended Sept. 23, missing forecasts of a 10,000 increase.
Sentiment on US stocks eased somewhat as investors questioned whether the lack of details on how tax reform will be funded would invite pressure from support industry groups and lobbyists.
"We shall wait and see how Trump’s plans evolve into legislation,” said Deutsche Bank’s strategist Jim Reid in a note on Thursday. “Our U.S. team’s early take is that they see a prospect of some reforms occurring at the corporate level (particularly for small corporates), but the potential for substantive reform of personal tax is much lower.”
In corporate news, shares of McDonald’s rose sharply, as expectations grow that McDonald’s new burger will drive the top-line growth.