Asia stocks were mostly lower on Friday after gains for Big Tech shares helped U.S. stock indexes claw back much of their slide from the day before. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was up 0.2% at 39,523.55, with the dollar standing at 153.31 Japanese yen, nearly matching the 34-year high of 153.32 yen that it reached on Wednesday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 1.9% to 16,766.61, and the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower to 3,030.13. China’s trade data for March will be released later in the day.
“The resilience of Asian equities is noteworthy, especially considering the stronger U.S. dollar and China’s ongoing deflationary challenges,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.9% to 2,681.82 after the Bank of Korea held its benchmark rate unchanged at 3.50%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3% to 7,788.10.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 5,199.06 and recovered most of its prior loss, caused by worries that interest rates may stay high for a while. The Nasdaq composite charged up by 1.7% to a record 16,442.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped less than 0.1% to 38,459.08.
Apple was the strongest force pushing the market upward, climbing 4.3% to trim its loss for the year so far. Nvidia rose 4.1% to take its gain for the year to 83%. Amazon added 1.7% and set a record after topping its prior high set in 2021.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady following a mixed batch of data on inflation and the U.S. economy. Traders are now expecting just two cuts in 2024, with some discussing the possibility of zero.
A report on Thursday showed inflation at the wholesale level was a touch lower last month than economists expected. A separate report said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week.
Benchmark U.S. crude added 74 cents to $85.76 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude was 62 cents higher at $90.36 a barrel. In currency trading, the euro cost $1.0678, down from $1.0731.
