Nikkei 225 index declined 2% to 41,388.92, Hang Seng index jumped 1.9% to 18,165.33, the Shanghai Composite index was 0.2% lower at 32,965.52, S&P/ASX 200 was 0.8% higher at 7,952.20, Kospi slid 1.2% to 2,857.11, SET rose less than 0.1%, and Taiex declined 2%
Asian stocks were mixed Friday with the yen moved between gains and losses after the latest update on inflation firmed Wall Street’s expectations that relief on interest rates may come as soon as September.
U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices gained.
The USD/JPY currency declined 2.1% overnight and traded as low as 157.43, fuelling speculation that Japanese authorities may have intervened to amplify the impact of the dovish US inflation data.
On Friday, the U.S. dollar advanced to 159.26 Japanese yen from 158.80 yen.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index declined 2% to 41,388.92.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.9% to 18,165.33 while the Shanghai Composite index was 0.2% lower at 32,965.52 after data showed that China’s exports rose by 8.6% in June, better than the market expectation.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.8% higher at 7,952.20. South Korea’s Kospi slid 1.2% to 2,857.11.
Elsewhere, Bangkok’s SET rose less than 0.1%. Taiwan’s Taiex declined 2%, with Taiwan Semiconductor losing 3.7% in morning trading. The firm earlier said that its revenue jumped almost 33% in June compared with the same period last year.
Such a trend followed the overnight trading at Wall Street, where four out of every five stocks in the S&P 500 index jumped, though pullbacks for Nvidia, Microsoft and a handful of other highly influential firms masked that underlying strength. Those giants have been the market’s biggest winners amid frenzy around AI technology, causing critics to say they had become too pricey, and they helped drag the S&P 500 down 0.9% from its all-time high set a day before.
The declines for Big Tech stocks also pulled the Nasdaq composite down 2% from its own record. The declines broke seven-day winning streaks for both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite. The DJIA, which has less of an emphasis on tech, gained 32 points, or 0.1%.
The direction was decidedly upward for the majority of stocks on Wall Street, especially housing-related firms, real-estate owners and others that benefit from easier interest rates.
