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The Asia-Pacific equity market was mostly higher on Friday as investors absorbed the latest economic data from China, and also investors weighed mixed signals on Wall Street in the wake of a cooler-than-expected US inflation report.
Japan (NKY:IND) -2.45%. The Nikkei index tumbled after BOJ conducted rate checks with banks on the euro-yen cross on Friday, raising fears of suspected intervention by Japanese authorities, although top currency diplomat Masato Kanda refused to confirm this.
Industrial production growth in Japan was revised upward to 3.6% month-over-month in May 2024 from flash data of a 2.8% increase.
Investors also look forward to the BOJ’s policy meeting in late July, where it is expected to announce its bond purchase tapering plans and possibly raise interest rates again.
China (SHCOMP) +0.08%. The mainland stocks struggled to extend the previous session’s rally, which was driven by fresh regulatory measures to curb aggressive selling in the stock market, after mixed trade data on Friday. China posts the largest trade surplus in nearly two years, as exports surge; imports weaken.
Traders anticipate next week’s GDP release and a key political meeting in Beijing.
Hong Kong (HSI) +2.50%. The Hang Seng is heading for the second straight weekly rise, up over 2%, after Thursday’s action by China to curb short-selling and quant-based investments continued to uplift sentiment ahead of the Third Plenum next week.
India (SENSEX) +0.84%. The BSE Sensex rose amid sustained domestic and foreign buying as traders cheered about the quarterly earnings season, supported by solid domestic economic data and assurance of policy continuity after the election.
Australia (AS51) +0.88%.
In the U.S., on Thursday, all three major indexes ended mixed amid a sharp decline in US Treasury yields as cooler-than-expected US inflation data cemented bets for a September rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
U.S. stock futures stabilized on Friday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite suffered their worst day since April amid a selloff in megacap technology stocks: Dow +0.18%; S&P 500 +0.12%; Nasdaq +0.03%.
Investors now look ahead to US producer inflation data on Friday for further insights on price trends.
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