Asian shares edge up after Wall St little changed

Asian shares were mostly higher on Friday after a mixed Wall Street close on listless trading.

Benchmarks in Tokyo, Sydney and Seoul rose. China's main index was up 1 point while Hong Kong retreated. Investors watched for Chinese trade data due out Friday.

Major US stock indexes closed unevenly Thursday after losses in health care stocks mostly offset gains in industrial companies and banks. Major European indexes closed mostly higher.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.6 per cent to 21,841.95 and the Shanghai Composite Index stood at 3,190.78.

Seoul's Kospi advanced 0.2 per cent to 2,228.02 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 added 0.2 per cent to 6,236.60, reports AP.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.2 per cent to 29,776.62. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets declined while Taiwan advanced.

On Wall Street, the Standard & Poor's 500 added less than 0.1 per cent to 2,888.32. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 per cent, to 26,143.05. The Nasdaq composite slid 0.2 per cent, to 7,947.36.

Benchmark US crude gained 15 cents to $63.73 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $1.03 on Thursday to close at $63.58.

Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 10 cents to $70.93 per barrel in London. It fell 90 cents the previous session to $70.83.

The dollar gained to 111.72 yen from Thursday's 111.66 yen. The euro rose to $1.1289 from $1.1257.