Asian shares
inched higher on Friday but were still set to post a loss for July, led
by China's biggest monthly drop in six years.
The
dollar edged away from highs scaled after U.S. GDP data reinforced
expectations that the Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates
this year.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up about 0.3 percent at 0532 GMT, but recorded a loss of 5.9 percent for the month.
Financial spreadbetters predicted Britain's FTSE 100 to open 2 to 4 points higher, or up 0.06 percent, Germany's DAX to gain 2 to 3 points, or almost flat in percentage terms, and France's CAC 40 to rise around 4 points, or up 0.08 percent, on Friday.
"European equity markets are set to open almost exactly flat," Jonathan Sudaria, dealer at Capital Spreads, wrote in a note. "Although Asia as a region is up overnight, Shanghai markets are edging lower going into the weekend so the bulls should be treading cautiously going into the weekend."
China's CSI300 index fell 0.1 percent, contributing to a 14.7 percent slump this month, and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1 percent, extending July losses to 13.4 percent despite a series of support measures by authorities.
China's
securities regulator said it is investigating the impact of automated
trading on the market and has clamped down on 24 trading accounts found
to have abnormal bids for shares or bid cancellations.
Japan's Nikkei stock index was up 0.1 percent, bringing July gains to 1.4 percent, becoming the only Asian market, excluding Australia and New Zealand, to end the month in positive territory.
Japanese economic data published before the open contained some worrying signals, including a drop in household spending, a fall in Tokyo-area consumer prices and a rise in the June jobless rate.
Investors also awaited more earnings from blue-chip companies and looked for signs of whether China's volatile stock markets were starting to take a toll on its economy.
Australian shares rose for a third straight day, as investors bought into higher-yielding financial sector stocks even as they too remained wary of volatility in China.
The S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.5 percent, extending gains this month to 3.9 percent.
"With Greece out of the way and China not being such a big focus as it has been, we're back to watching the economic data," said Christopher Moltke-Leth, head of institutional client trading at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. "Particularly U.S. data, as we're getting close to a liftoff."
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up about 0.3 percent at 0532 GMT, but recorded a loss of 5.9 percent for the month.
Financial spreadbetters predicted Britain's FTSE 100 to open 2 to 4 points higher, or up 0.06 percent, Germany's DAX to gain 2 to 3 points, or almost flat in percentage terms, and France's CAC 40 to rise around 4 points, or up 0.08 percent, on Friday.
"European equity markets are set to open almost exactly flat," Jonathan Sudaria, dealer at Capital Spreads, wrote in a note. "Although Asia as a region is up overnight, Shanghai markets are edging lower going into the weekend so the bulls should be treading cautiously going into the weekend."
China's CSI300 index fell 0.1 percent, contributing to a 14.7 percent slump this month, and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1 percent, extending July losses to 13.4 percent despite a series of support measures by authorities.
Japan's Nikkei stock index was up 0.1 percent, bringing July gains to 1.4 percent, becoming the only Asian market, excluding Australia and New Zealand, to end the month in positive territory.
Japanese economic data published before the open contained some worrying signals, including a drop in household spending, a fall in Tokyo-area consumer prices and a rise in the June jobless rate.
Investors also awaited more earnings from blue-chip companies and looked for signs of whether China's volatile stock markets were starting to take a toll on its economy.
Australian shares rose for a third straight day, as investors bought into higher-yielding financial sector stocks even as they too remained wary of volatility in China.
The S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.5 percent, extending gains this month to 3.9 percent.
"With Greece out of the way and China not being such a big focus as it has been, we're back to watching the economic data," said Christopher Moltke-Leth, head of institutional client trading at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. "Particularly U.S. data, as we're getting close to a liftoff."
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