Investors are looking ahead to the release of key economic data, including inflation in the Tokyo area on Friday. Seven & I failed to arrange the financing needed for its management buyout.
Tech stocks faltered for the second consecutive session amid growing anxieties about stretched valuations. Investors are looking ahead to announcements from the legislative meeting next week.
Japan's investors looked ahead to the release of industrial production and retail sales data. Tokyo-area consumer price inflation is expected to accelerate amid rising food and fuel prices.
Tech stocks extended monthlong gains as foreign investors resumed buying and increased allocation to high-flying e-commerce and online services providers. The Hang Seng index extended its 2025 gain to over 21%.
Benchmark indexes in Japan traded down amid rising trade tensions with the U.S. and uncertainty surrounding the domestic rate path. Warren Buffett-controlled Berkshire boosted its stake in Japan's trading houses.
Stock market indexes in China and Hong Kong extended losses of the week after investors questioned the recent revaluation of tech stocks amid euphoria surrounding the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence technology.
Benchmark indexes in China and Hong Kong lacked direction after surging in the Friday's session. Tech stocks remained in focus amid Deep Seek-driven optimism.
Japan's benchmark indexes trimmed weekly losses, and the yen firmed up in Friday's trading. Consumer price inflation accelerated to a two-year high in January, supporting the case for a rate hike in March. Manufacturing sector activities growth contracted for the eighth month in a row in February.
China and Hong Kong market indexes extended weekly advances as foreign investors resumed buying and poured money into leading tech and industrial stocks.
Japan's benchmark indexes dropped for the second consecutive session amid rising threats of U.S. tariffs and trade barriers for exports from the automobile, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical industries.
Tech stocks extended this week's decline after investors questioned valuations. The People's Bank of China held its one-year and five-year loan prime rates for the fourth successive month in February.
China's market indexes struggled after the five-week tech stocks rally ran out of steam. Home prices continued to slide in January, confirming that the four-year-long property market malaise is far from over. HSBC said 2024 earnings rose 2%.
Technology extended gains for the third week in a row and pushed the benchmark tech index in Hong Kong into the bull market territory. China's leaders reversed their confrontational stance with the private sector after the success of the artificial intelligence chatbot Deep Seek.
Japan's fourth quarter GDP expanded for the third consecutive quarter, driven by the sustained rise in government spending and an unexpected increase in private sector activities.
