Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finishes in negative territory, but ends week more than 4% higher

Shares in Hong Kong slipped on Friday but still finished a rollercoaster week more than 4% higher.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index swung between positive and negative territory on Friday, closing 0.41% lower at 21,412.40 but rising 4.17% for the week.

The benchmark index also saw its first positive week in five following days of volatile trading, seeing big losses on Monday and Tuesday before a dramatic turnaround over the next two days.

Shares of Ping An Insurance in Hong Kong jumped 4.79% despite reporting its largest fall in annual profit since 2008.

The city also welcomed its first SPAC on Friday, with Aquila Acquisition making its debut. The company said Thursday it had raised about 1 billion Hong Kong dollars ($127.88 million) from the offering.

In mainland China, the Shanghai composite closed 1.12% higher at 3,251.07 while the Shenzhen component advanced 0.315% to 12,328.65.

Japanese stocks closed higher as the Nikkei 225 rose 0.65% to 26,827.43 while the Topix index climbed 0.54% to 1,909.27. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.46%, finishing the trading day at 2,707.02.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia climbed 0.6%, closing at 7,294.40.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped about 0.1%.

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, with the two leaders to discuss topics such as Russia’s war against Ukraine and competition between the two countries, according to the White House.

Bank of Japan holds steady on monetary policy

The Bank of Japan on Friday announced its decision to hold steady on monetary policy. In a largely expected decision, the Japanese central bank kept its interest rate targets unchanged.

The BoJ warned in its monetary policy statement of “extremely high uncertainties” over how the situation in Ukraine will affect economic activity and prices in Japan.

Following the BoJ’s announcement, the Japanese yen traded at 118.89 per dollar, still weaker than levels below 118 seen against the greenback earlier in the week.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday has approved its first interest rate hike in more than three years while the Bank of England on Thursday hiked rates for the third consecutive meeting.

Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 jumped 1.23% to 4,411.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 417.66 points, or 1.23%, to 34,480.76. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.33% to 13,614.78.

Oil prices rise more than 1%

Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 1.28% to $108.01 per barrel. U.S. crude futures jumped 1.64% to $104.67 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 98.126 — still off levels above 99 seen earlier this week.

The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7392, having risen in recent days from levels below $0.721.