There is no shortage of factors that have the potential to affect stocks. Interestingly, stocks in Asia-Pacific were mostly higher on Friday. Notably, mainland Chinese stocks led gains among the region’s major markets. The Shanghai Composite added 2.07% to about 3’338.09. In the meantime, the Shenzhen Component gained 1’766% to 13’245.09.
Also, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.28% as of its final hour of trading.
Japanese stocks strengthened their positions on Friday. The Nikkei 225 added 0.18% to end its trading at 23’360.30. At the same time, the Topix index advanced 0.49% to close at 1’646.42.
Moreover, South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.26% to close at 2’412.40.
Unfortunately, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell on Friday as it dropped 0.32% 5’864.50.
Shares of Malaysian glovemaker Top Glove added more than 2% in Friday afternoon trade. On Thursday, the firm announced its earnings for the fourth quarter as well as the full financial year 2020. Interestingly, profit after tax for the full financial year in 2020 rose 417% from the previous financial year. The demand for gloves increased on the international stage due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Interestingly, the conglomerate SoftBank Group saw its stock fell 1.09% on the day. According to the famous firm, it will sell its entire stake in mobile services firm Brightstar. People should take into account that the current chief operating officer of SoftBank is the founder of Brightstar.
Shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent 
It is worth noting that, shares of the technology firms in Asia-Pacific traded mixed on Friday. Also, shares of Sharp in Japan rose 1.88%.
In South Korea, industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics’s stock fell 0.34% while Kakao added 0.54%.
Also, Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent fell 1.04%. However, shares of Xioami soared 3.29% in afternoon trade.
Pressure seen in stocks of their counterparts from Wall Street affected shares of technology firms in Asia.
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