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

SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Friday morning trade, as investors continue to watch developments surrounding China Evergrande Group.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan jumped 1.95% in morning trade while the Topix index gained 2.1%. South Korea's Kospi edged 0.49% higher.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index traded fractionally higher.

Shares of China Evergrande Group in Hong Kong fell around 5%. 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 traded lower, with the Shanghai composite down about 0.1% while the Shenzhen component shed 0.346%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.17%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded around 0.1% higher.

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.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 93.073 — still above levels around 93 seen earlier in the week.

The Japanese yen traded at 110.38 per dollar, having weakened days earlier from around 109.2 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7305 following its climb yesterday from below $0.724.

Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.57% to $77.69 per barrel. U.S. crude futures climbed 0.41% to $73.60 per barrel.