A rebound in oil prices and strong U.S. and European corporate earnings also boosted investor sentiment as figures from the National Association of Realtors showed the housing market is stabilizing after recent hefty gains. A batch of disappointing results from Procter & Gamble, Facebook and others weighed on the market.
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In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 0.4 percent to 24,595.51 points.
China stocks fell on Friday and looked set to suffer their biggest monthly loss in almost six years even as Beijing rolled out a series of support measures and promised to step up efforts to bolster the flagging economy. Heavyweight Samsung Electronics tumbled 3.8 percent after reporting a fifth straight quarterly profit drop, reflecting continued weakness in its flagship handset business. The maker of Tide detergent and Gillette razors reported softer sales than Wall Street analysts had expected.
BAD PRODUCE: Whole Foods plunged $5.02, or 12 percent, to $35.81.
Whole Foods plunged 11 per cent. Its sales growth slowed sharply after New York City officials found it was overcharging customers. Vincent Chan, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said that financing for buying stocks by informal lending channels, as tracked by one major trading system, likely dropped sharply since mid-July.
Internet content service operator Naver dipped 0.2 percent, a day after plummeting 14 percent on the back of a weak second-quarter earnings report. FactSet estimates that revenue at companies in the S&P 500 has decreased 4 percent from a year ago, largely due to weakness in the energy sector.
Singapore’s jobless rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 2 percent in the second quarter from 1.8 percent in the preceding quarter, preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Manpower revealed. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just below the 3,790-point plateau, and the market may continue its recovery again on Thursday. Brent crude, a benchmark for global oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell 41 cents at $52.90 a barrel in London. On Tuesday the ruble weakened to 60 to the dollar, the lowest point in more than four months.
BONDS: U.S. government bond prices rose slightly.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.27 per cent.
METALS: Precious and industrial metals futures ended mostly lower.
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Among China’s other indexes, the CSI300 index traded flat while the smaller Shenzhen Composite slipped 0.4 percent.
