Hong Kong shares hit a three-year high Friday, leading gains in the region as investors weighed inflation data from Japan against tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index regained 98.9 points, or 0.3%, to 38,776.94. Japan’s inflation rate in January climbed to 4%, hitting its highest level since January 2023. Core inflation — which excludes prices of fresh food — rose to 3.2%, beating Reuters’ expectations of 3.1%.
Investors will continue keeping an eye on the Japanese yen, which strengthened to a more than two-month high of 150.52 per U.S. dollar on Thursday amid bets of more rate hikes by the Bank of Japan this year. The currency is currently trading at 150.22 against the greenback.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 367.26 points, or 1.6%, to 22,576.98. its highest level since February 2022, according to data from LSEG. The Hang Seng Tech index added 6.15%. Shares of Hong Kong listed Alibaba rose 14.7% following a significant profit increase for the company in the December quarter, driven by growth in its Cloud Intelligence division and e-commerce sector.
In other markets
The CSI 300 in mainland China backpedaled 11.26 points, or 0.3% to 3,928.90
In Taiwan, the Taiex index shed 116.62 points, or 0.5%, to 23,487.46.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index gave back 6.53 points, or 0.2%, to 3,927.51
In Korea, the Kospi index deleted 17.46 points, or 0.7%, to 2,654.06.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 subtracted 153 points, or 1.2%, to 12,880.36
In Australia, the ASX 200 surrendered 96.37 points, or 1.1%, to 8,322.82.
