On Friday, Asia-Pacific markets largely rebounded following a notable sell-off on Thursday, which had driven some indexes in the region to their lowest levels in months. The initial drop had raised concerns about economic stability, but the recovery on Friday indicated some resilience in the market.
In Japan, traders focused on inflation data from Tokyo, which often served as a barometer for national trends. Tokyo’s headline inflation slightly decreased to 2.2% in July from 2.3% in May. The core inflation rate, excluding fresh food, remained steady at 2.2%, meeting expectations.
Meanwhile, the “core-core” inflation rate, which excludes both fresh food and energy prices and is monitored by the Bank of Japan, fell to 1.5% from 1.8%.
The Japanese yen, which had strengthened significantly against the dollar over the past week, was also a point of interest. It was trading at 153.79 yen per dollar. In Japan’s stock markets, the Nikkei 225 was largely unchanged, while the Topix index saw a modest increase of 0.2%.
Asia-Pacific Markets Recover as Japan’s Inflation Data Meets Expectations
However, Renesas Electronics, a major chipmaker, faced a significant decline, dropping over 8% due to poor financial results and a 29% decrease in net profit for the first half of the year.
In Taiwan, markets reopened after a two-day closure due to a typhoon, with the Taiwan Weighted Index experiencing a sharp decline of 3.46%. Major companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company saw their stock prices fall significantly.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi and Kosdaq indexes saw modest gains of 0.62% and 0.33%, respectively, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose by 0.74%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also increased by 0.61%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 index slipped slightly by 0.12%.
In the U.S., the stock market continued its rotation away from technology stocks, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both extending their losses. The S&P 500 fell by 0.51%, and the Nasdaq Composite decreased by 0.93%.
Conversely, the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a slight increase of 0.2%. According to Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments, this shift reflects a “mini rotation” within the bull market, where leading stocks during the market’s rise are now experiencing declines.
