Asia-Pacific markets fell on Friday, after US technology stocks lost ground and investors’ hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in December faded.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.57% at the open, while the Topix lost 0.72%.
Technology conglomerate SoftBank fell more than 10%. Other technology stocks on the index fell, with Advantest losing more than 9%, Tokyo Electron retreating by nearly 6%, Lasertec by nearly 5% and Renesas Electron by 1.95%.
Japan’s core inflation rose at its fastest rate since July in October, in line with market estimates on Friday, bolstering the case for a rate hike by the Bank of Japan.
South Korea’s Kospi index fell 4.09% and the small Kosdaq retreated 3.01%. Kospi heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell by as much as 4% and 9%, respectively. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell by 1.3%, reports SEEbiz.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.88% at the open, while the Hang Seng Tech Index was down 2.33%. Tech giant Baidu fell 6%, Xiaomi Corp fell 4.51% and Tencent traded 2.25% lower.
Hang Seng auto stocks also fell. Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD fell by 2.68%, while Nio and Li Auto fell by almost 6% and around 2%, respectively.
Kotinj CSI 300 fell by 1.13%.
India’s Nifty 50 fell 0.1%, while the BSE Sensex opened 0.33% lower.
Meanwhile, bitcoin fell 0.91% to $85,550, hitting a seven-month low. Ether hit its lowest value since July, before recovering some losses and last fell 1.08% to $2,802.81.
Overnight in the US, Oracle and AMD were among the first AI stocks to fall into the red during the session, followed by Nvidia, which reversed gains to close nearly 3% lower.
Stronger-than-expected US employment data renewed doubts about whether the central bank will cut its benchmark overnight interest rate. Traders were pricing in a roughly 40% chance of a quarter-point cut next month, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a blow to investors who had hoped for lower borrowing costs.
