Overnight

Mixed is becoming of late a common term to describe Asian markets as the Nikkei started out down and shrugged it off to gain 0.15% One thing that reportedly bothered Asian investors was North  Korea apparently set off a fifth nuclear test, the largest one yet, this month.

The Nikkei 225 started out down but shrugged it off and was up 0.15% while the Kospi declined 1.39%, the ASX 200 was down 0.83% and both Chinese indexes were mostly flat with the Shanghai up only 0.02% and the Shenzhen off 0.021%, the Hang Seng rallied 0.96%. Shares in Japan have been trading in a narrow range for weeks now as investors try to figure out the Fed's next move on interest rates. Inflation was again a relative no show in China as China’s consumer-price index was up just 1.3% in August, slowing from July’s 1.8% and giving authorities more room to ease monetary policy to lift growth.
 
In Europe, the WSJ reported, The European Central Bank left its €1.7 trillion ($1.9 trillion) stimulus unchanged at a policy meeting Thursday, brushing off concerns over economic shock waves from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and disappointing investors expecting the ECB to act again soon.

The decision to stand pat, even as new forecasts showed the ECB missing its inflation target for years, underlines how central banks are approaching the limits of what they can achieve without support from other policy areas, notably governments. In China earlier this month, Group of 20 leaders warned that monetary policy alone can’t fix the world’s economic ills, and pledged to boost spending and adopt overhauls aimed at boosting growth.
 
Central banks are still in the spotlight, however, as several members of the fed are due to speak Friday and investor try to fathom the future of U.S.interest rates and reconfigure their portfolios. Overnight the U.S. dollar index weaken slightly against a basket of currencies trading at 94.856. Energy is anther items investors will be watching Friday as oil rallied strongly Thursday after a big draw down in U.S. reserves came to light. U.S. crude futures shed 0.84 percent to $47.22.