Aerial view of the Osaka skyline
The Asia-Pacific market mostly gained on Friday, influenced by Wall Street’s profits following comments from White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt, who downplayed the urgency of upcoming tariff deals that had previously worried investors.
Tariffs are expected to take effect on July 8, post a 90-day suspension, while July 9 marks the deadline for EU transactions to avoid facing a steep 50% tariff. Leavitt stated, “Deadlines don’t matter. It could probably be extended, but that’s a decision the president will make.”
Japan’s Benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 1.59%, crossing the 40,000 mark for the first time since January 7, while the broader Topix index rose by 1.3%.
In Tokyo, the Core Consumer Price Index is anticipated to increase by 3.1% year-on-year in June, excluding fresh food and fuel, which is slower than the previous month’s 3.6% rise. Economists had predicted around a 3.3% increase.
On the other hand, in South Korea, the Kospi index fell by 0.76%, and the smaller Kosdaq also dropped by 0.57%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index saw a slight increase of 0.1%, and mainland China’s CSI 300 index rose by 0.31%. This came after the National Statistics Bureau reported that industrial profits in the country had dropped by 9.1% in the first five months of the year compared to last year.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 remained unchanged.
US stock futures were hovering near flat earlier in Asia, as investors awaited a variety of economic data, such as inflation rates, personal income, consumer spending, and sentiment indicators.
Stateside, the S&P 500 saw a rise, ending with notable gains despite ongoing macroeconomic challenges, including tariff disputes and geopolitical issues. The index increased by 0.8% to settle at 6,141.02, bringing weekly gains to 2.9%—just shy of its all-time high of 6,147.43 reached in late February.
The NASDAQ composite increased by 0.97% to close at 20,167.91, also approaching a potential new record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 404.41 points (0.94%) to end at 43,386.84.
