Asia-Pacific Markets Fall Amid Mixed U.S. Session and Rising Bond Yields
Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Friday following a muted session on Wall Street, as investors weighed economic signals and rising bond yields. Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 slipped 0.17%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.36% and the Topix dropped 1.12%, reflecting growing caution among traders. Japanese 10-year government bond yields rose to 1.94%, the highest level since July 2007, adding pressure to the regional market sentiment.
South Korea’s Kospi hovered near the flatline, with the Kosdaq Index retreating 0.25%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.48% and China’s mainland CSI 300 remained largely unchanged at the open. Investors continued to monitor tech stocks closely amid bubble concerns. Shares of Moore Threads, a Beijing-based GPU manufacturer often dubbed “China’s Nvidia,” surged over 400% during its Shanghai debut after a $1.1 billion listing.
SoftBank shares in Japan gained nearly 4% before trimming some of their gains to finish 1.02% higher. The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, recently expressed regret over selling the conglomerate’s entire Nvidia stake, highlighting market sensitivity to tech holdings. These movements underscore the region’s mixed appetite for risk and the volatility surrounding tech sector valuations.
In India, markets saw a modest boost as the Nifty 50 rose 0.2% after the Reserve Bank of India cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%, in line with economist expectations. The RBI’s unanimous decision cited “weakness in some key economic indicators,” even as headline inflation eases, setting the stage for a potentially more accommodative monetary policy in the coming months.
Overnight in the U.S., Wall Street posted mixed results ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve interest rate decision. The S&P 500 inched up 0.11% to 6,857.12, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.22% to 23,505.14, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.07% to 47,850.94. These developments have left Asian investors cautious, balancing hopes of supportive global policies with concerns over regional bond yields and tech market fluctuations.
source: Cnbc