Japanese stocks give up some gains after reports that former PM Shinzo Abe was shot

SINGAPORE — Japan’s stocks gave up some gains and the yen rose on local media reports that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was taken to hospital after an apparent shooting.

The Nikkei 225 was up 0.73% and the Topix index 0.83% higher after the lunch break. Both indexes rose more than 1% earlier in the day.

The yen last traded at 135.50 per dollar. Earlier in the session, it was at 135.9 per dollar.

Reuters reported that Abe is still a heavyweight in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.9%.

South Korea’s Kospi added 1.24%, while the Kosdaq was 1.69% higher.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong jumped 1.31% in early trade, with the Hang Seng Tech index rising nearly 2%.

Mainland China markets were higher. The Shanghai Composite increased 0.65%, while the Shenzhen Component advanced 0.737%.

But fears of rising prices and an economic slowdown remain.

“The risk out there, of course, would be the heightened inflation and on top of that, there is also the risk of impending recession,” DBS Chief Investment Officer Hou Wey Fook told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to report its nonfarm payrolls data Friday stateside. Economists expect a gain of 250,000 jobs for June, according to a Dow Jones survey. That would be less than the 390,000 jobs added in May.

In company news, SoftBank on Thursday said Rajeev Misra will step down as CEO of SoftBank Global Advisors, but remain in two other positions. Shares of the company rose 2.15% in Asia.

Overnight in the U.S., major indexes rose.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 346.87 points, or about 1.12%, to close at 31,384.55. The S&P 500 gained 1.5% to 3,902.62, while the Nasdaq Composite added 2.28% to 11,621.35.

European markets rose on Thursday as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 106.825, falling from above 107 earlier this week.

The Aussie drifted higher after news the foreign ministers of Australia and China are set to meet for the first time in nearly three years, according to Carol Kong, a senior associate, international economics and currency strategy, at Commonwealth Bank.

“Nevertheless, AUD will likely struggle to sustain these gains while China remains committed to its zero Covid policy and the global economy is losing momentum,” she wrote in a Friday note.

Oil futures were slightly lower in Asia’s morning trade. U.S. crude was down 0.42% at $102.30 per barrel, while Brent crude slipped 0.37% to $104.26 per barrel.