Shares were mostly higher in Asia as markets rebounded from the heavy sell-off on Thursday.
The gains followed a mixed session on Wall Street, where general stocks and other previously struggling sectors rose while major Big Tech stocks relinquished some of their substantial gains.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index increased by 0.1% to 37,904.30, recovering slightly after a 3.3% drop the previous day amid widespread sell-offs.
Tokyo’s core consumer price index rose 2.2% in July, marking its third consecutive monthly increase and reaching its highest level in four months. This has fueled expectations that the Bank of Japan may raise its near-zero benchmark interest rate at next week’s policy meeting.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng inched up 0.2% to 17,036.63, while the Shanghai Composite index dipped 0.2% to 2,881.62.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 surged 0.8% to 7,923.30, while Seoul’s Kospi added 0.7% to 2,730.68.
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 3.3% as it reopened following a market closure on Thursday due to a typhoon, catching up with Wednesday’s decline, which was the S&P 500’s worst loss since 2022. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. plummeted 5.6%, mirroring declines in Big Tech companies.
In Bangkok, the SET rose 1.1%, and India’s Sensex gained 0.8%.
On Wall Street, smaller stocks and other previously underperforming market segments rose, while major Big Tech stocks surrendered more of their impressive gains.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.5%, closing at 5,399.22, continuing its decline from the previous day, which was its worst since 2022.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 leading US companies rose 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9%. Meanwhile, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies climbed 1.3%.
In the bond market, the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury bonds decreased to 4.24% from 4.28% late Wednesday.
