Major bourses in the Asia Pacific region lacked direction on Friday, amid anticipation for fiscal stimulus in China, caution about US payrolls data and rising cases of the Delta strain in the region. The Nikkei 225 led the gains, jumping by 2% and hovering at a near 2-1/2-month high after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga decided not to run in the ruling party race, setting the stage for his replacement after just one year in the office. Stocks in South Korea added 0.7%, rebounding from a fall Thursday, as the country’s Q2 GDP growth hit its highest since Q4 2010, amid a faster rise in both household consumption and government spending. The ASX rose 0.5% after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia will get 4 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in a swap deal with Britain. Stocks fell in China (-0.4%) and Hong Kong (-0.8%), after a private survey showed China’s services sector shrank for the first time in 20 months.
