Asian Markets Tracking Higher Ahead Of Next Week's LNY Break

Asia Pac equities are tracking higher for the most part, shrugging off negative leads from US/EU markets from Thursday's session. US equity futures are tracking modestly higher at this stage, with eminis +0.20%, Nasdaq futures +0.36%. This is the final session ahead of the LNY break next week for a lot of the major EM Asia markets.

• The CSI 300 up 0.50% so far today, with the Shanghai Composite up by the same amount. Financials and consumer stocks are leading the move higher. Northbound flows are just under 7bn yuan so far today, bringing flows for the past trading month close to 119bn yuan. China markets are closed for all of next week.
• The HSI is also trading positively, up over 1% for the main index, with tech shares outperforming. As expected, Didi's ride hailing app is back in domestic app stores. Hong Kong markets are closed for the first 3 sessions next week.
• Japan shares are higher, the Nikkei 225, up 0.35%, while the Kospi has gained 0.50% at this stage.
• Thai stocks are the main laggards in the region at this stage, down 0.80%. This index has struggled closer to 1700 since the beginning of the year, last around 1675, despite continued inflows from offshore investors.