An electronic stock board displays the Nikkei 225 Stock Average outside a securities firm in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg A region-wide equity index fell, with Japanese stocks among the hardest hit. Chinese benchmarks rose as October residential property sales climbed and a survey showed the country’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly picked up last month, a sign of stabilisation after Beijing’s stimulus blitz.
Tech stocks were driving the declines elsewhere in Asia, as investors assessed the impact of US tech giants’ performance on Asian suppliers. Chipmakers lagged early in the day, with SK Hynix Inc. falling and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. losing ground as Taiwanese markets reopened after a typhoon.
“Everyone is expecting for further policies to be announced to really continue that momentum that we have been seeing in China’s stock marketplace in the past six weeks or so,” Ken Wong, an Asian equity portfolio specialist at Eastspring Investments, said in a Bloomberg TV interview.
Some of the major non-tech decliners in the Asia index were largely due to sluggish earnings results. Li Auto’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell as much as 12% after the Chinese electric vehicle maker’s fourth-quarter revenue forecast missed estimates.
CSPC Pharmaceutical shares also tumbled after reporting a decline in its preliminary net profit for the first nine months. In Australia, shares of Macquarie Group Ltd. fell after reporting earnings results that fell short of analyst estimates.
The US elections also continue to weigh on markets in Asia. Australia’s 10-year bond yield rose to an 11-month high amid the uncertainties tied to next week’s match-up between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Meanwhile, US Treasuries were steady after minor gains on Thursday. Still, October was the worst month for Treasuries in two years after the heavy selling of the past few weeks that reflected a rethink on US interest rates given signs of resilience in the economy. An index of dollar strength was little changed after falling on Thursday.
The S&P 500 lost 1.9% and the Nasdaq 100 dropped 2.4% on Thursday, their worst sessions since early September, reflecting investor unease over the earnings of Microsoft Corp and Meta Platforms Inc. Apple Inc. shares were slightly softer in post-market trading Thursday after reporting weaker-than-anticipated sales in China. Amazon.com Inc. and Intel Corp. bucked the trend, rising in after-hours trade on optimistic outlooks, supporting a small advance for US stock futures early on Friday.
“It makes some sense to trim some from those names that have worked so well over the past 12-18 months and look for AI laggards as well as other tech themes like cybersecurity, robotics and automation,” said Michael Landsberg, chief investment officer, Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management.
Oil extended gains after Axios reported that Iran is planning a major retaliatory strike on Israel through the militias it backs in Iraq, citing two unidentified Israeli sources. West Texas Intermediate traded above $70 a barrel.
Weekly US jobless claims fell more than expected, according to figures released Thursday, indicating a robust employment market, and less reason for the Federal Reserve to cut rates. Friday’s non-farm payroll figures are expected to show 100,000 jobs added to the US economy in October.
The yen was steady Friday after climbing as much as 1% against the greenback Thursday. The gains followed comments from Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda that currency markets have had a major impact on the economy, pointing to another potential rate hike in coming months.
China’s residential property sales rise in October was the first on-year increase of 2024. The moves came after authorities unleashed their strongest package of measures, including cutting borrowing costs on existing mortgages, relaxing buying curbs in big cities and easing down payment requirements.
Data set for release in Asia on Friday includes Hong Kong retail sales.
The Fed’s preferred measure of underlying US inflation posted its biggest monthly gain since April, bolstering the case for a slower pace of interest-rate cuts.
“With the Fed’s attention rotating more toward the full-employment aspect of its dual mandate, we think the steady annual core inflation measure won’t sway the Fed from its rate-cutting path,” Bloomberg economists Stuart Paul and Estelle Ou write in a note.
In commodities, gold retreated as some investors booked profit after the metal’s rally to a fresh record.
Bitcoin sank below $69,000 in Asia on Friday, with its momentum fizzling as pro-crypto Trump’s election odds drop in betting markets.