Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumps 2% as investors seek clarity on Evergrande situation

SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Friday, as investors continued to watch developments surrounding China Evergrande Group

The Nikkei 225 in Japan jumped 2.06% to close at 30,248.81, with shares of Fast Retailing and Softbank Group gaining 1.5% and 2.76% respectively. The Topix index gained 2.31% to finish the trading day at 2,090.75

South Korea’s Kospi, on the other hand, closed fractionally lower at 3,125.24

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Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 1.45% to close at 23,155.49

Shares of China Evergrande Group in Hong Kong fell 11.61%. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Chinese authorities have told local officials to prepare for a potential demise of Evergrande. Uncertainty also remains around whether Evergrande will pay the interest that was due Thursday on a dollar-denominated bond

Mainland Chinese stocks slipped on the day , with the Shanghai composite down 0.8% to 3,613.07 while the Shenzhen component shed 0.205% to around 14,357.85

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.37% to finish the trading day at 7,342.60

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped about 0.5%

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Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 506.50 points to 34,764.82 while the S&P 500 gained 1.21% to 4,448.98. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.04% to 15,052.24

Thursday’s gains left the major averages on Wall Street in positive territory for the week, recovering from earlier losses