Asian stocks mixed with eye on economic releases

By ANNABELLE LIANG
Associated Press

SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian stock markets are mixed ahead of more regional economic releases that could hint at how the delta variant is affecting growth. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.1% and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 added 0.5% on Friday. Benchmarks in Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai slipped. Japan and Thailand will report their economic growth for the second quarter next week. China will also release its industrial output and retail sales figures for July. This comes after the country’s services sector was shown to have rebounded ahead of a fresh COVID-19 wave.