(RTTNews) – Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday despite Wall Street’s main indexes reaching new record highs overnight following the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate cut in nine months.
China’s Shanghai Composite index ended down 0.30 percent at 3,820.09 after a choppy session ahead of a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for later in the day to finalize terms of a deal over TikTok’s U.S. operations.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng swung between gains and losses ended little changed at 26,545.10.
Japanese markets ended lower as the Bank of Japan’s hawkish tilt lifted the yen. The Nikkei average dropped 0.57 percent to 45,045.81 while the broader Topix index closed down 0.35 percent at 3,147.68.
Japan’s two-year government bond yield rose to the highest since 2008 after the Bank of Japan held rates as expected but announced the start of its oversized ETF and REIT holdings, marking a significant and symbolic step away from the ultra-loose policies of the Abenomics era.
Seoul stocks fell on profit taking after recent rallies. The Kospi average dropped 0.46 percent to 3,445.24, with tech stocks leading losses.
Hyundai Motor fell over 2 percent after slashing its 2025 operating profit margin target to 6-7 percent from a previously announced 7-8 percent, citing the impact of U.S. tariffs.
Australian markets eked out modest gains, with banks and healthcare stocks surging on expectations of a rate cut in November.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.32 percent to 8,773.50 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.34 percent higher at 9,061.20.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index climbed 0.85 percent to 13,231.66 after a two-day slide.
Gold edged up in Asian trade and the U.S. dollar held steady as investors awaited new catalysts following the Federal Reserve’s meeting. Oil declined but was set for a second weekly gain.
Overnight, U.S. stocks notched fresh record highs as Nvidia agreed to invest $5 billion in Intel Corp and data showed fewer Americans filed new applications for unemployment benefits last week.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9 percent, the S&P 500 added half a percent and the Dow rose 0.3 percent, a day after the Fed delivered its first interest-rate cut since December 2024 and signalled two more rate cuts in 2025.
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