Major stock markets in Asia-Pacific traded mixed on Friday amid the release of a new batch of data and the impact of the Ukraine crisis on the global markets and the economy. Earlier, Japan posted that the goods trade deficit reached ¥176.8 billion on the balance of payments (BOP). Meanwhile, the country's seasonally adjusted consumer confidence index decreased in March by 2.5 points to land at 32.8.
Japan's Nikkei 225 grew by 0.18% at 7:15 am CET, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.41% at the close of the trading session. South Korea's Kospi was flat at 7:16 am CET.
The Shanghai Composite was also flat at 7:01 am CET in mainland China. At the same time, the Shenzhen Composite fell 0.44%. On the other hand, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.29% at 7:17 am CET. The dollar stood flat compared to the Japanese yen at 7:18 am CET, trading for ¥123.9650.
