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Wall Street Cues, Easing Bond Yields Boost Asian Stock Markets

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Asian stock markets largely traded higher Friday, after overnight gains on Wall Street, and as bond yields softened.

Led by tech issues, Hong Kong and Tokyo finished in the green, although Shanghai edged back. Other regional exchanges mostly gained ground.

Brent crude oil futures declined 0.1% to $95.47 a barrel, during Asian market hours.

Yields on benchmark 10-year Japanese government bonds eased slightly, to near 2.91%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher on New York signals and rose to the close, finishing up 1.3% as traders waded back into tech shares.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 806.46 to 65,020.94, although losing issues outnumbered gainers 137 to 85, as the upside was somewhat confined to the AI- and semiconductor-related sectors.

Leading the upside was tech-financier SoftBank, up 11.8%, while Sumitomo Chemical declined 5.1%.

In economic news, Japan household spending declined a real 3.6% on-year in July, but gained a seasonally adjusted 0.5% from June, reported the Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and held ground, closing up 1.7%, buoyed by tech and property shares.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 437.56 to 25,650.87, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 80 to 11. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 2.3% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 1.7%.

Leading the upside was property developer Longfor, gaining 8.4%, while Wuxi Biologics declined 3%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% to 3,930.12.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 1.6%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 1.5%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.9%, and the Thai Set inclined 1.2%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.7%.

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 0.8% on the day.

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