Asia-Pacific markets were mostly in the black on Friday afternoon, recovering from earlier losses caused by investors pulling out of tech stocks.
Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 continued its morning growth and rose by 1.36%, while the Topix strengthened by 1.17%. South Korea’s Kospi recorded a strong gain of 4.65%, while the Kosdaq fell by 1.68%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.39%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.57%, while China’s CSI 300 gained 1.15%. Taiwan’s benchmark index Taiex registered a slight increase of 0.2%.
US markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday.
Overnight in the United States, stocks ended mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high after a weaker-than-expected jobs report in June fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates. At the same time, the drop in shares from the semiconductor sector dragged the Nasdaq down, reports SEEbiz.
The Dow Jones, which includes 30 large companies, rose by 594.83 points, or 1.14%, and closed at a record 52,900.07 points. During the day, the index reached a new historical maximum of 52,903.85. The S&P 500 rose less than a point to end at 7,483.24, while the Nasdaq fell 0.8% to 25,832.67.
Shares in the semiconductor sector fell for the second day in a row, further weighing on the market. The VanEck Semiconductor ( SMH ) ETF fell 4.5%, led by Teradyne shares down 13.6% and KLA down 11.5%. Shares of Nvidia fell 1.4%, while shares of Micron lost 5.5%.
