(RTTNews) – Asian stocks posted combined returns on Friday, after rising in the latest poll on the People’s Bank of China’s decision to cut its reserve requirement ratio for local banks, freeing up about 2 trillion yuan of liquidity.
The mood is cautious in Asian markets with investors awaiting U.S. inflation data, due later in the day. Also, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its monetary policy next week.
The Japanese market has fallen sharply, hurt by hawkish comments from Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda. Investors are digesting the Japanese inflation data.
Japan’s Tokyo CPI fell to 1. 6% in January from 2. 4% in December 2023.
On a monthly basis, manufacturing costs rose 0. 1% in December, up from 0. 3% last month.
The Nikkei 225 was down 500. 97 numbers or 1. 37% at 35,735. 50.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizhuo Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Softbank Group are among the biggest losers in the monetary sector.
Sumco Corp. , Advantest Corp. and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing were down between 4. 3% and 5. 2%. Ajinomoto Co. , Tokyo Electric Power, Tokyo Electron, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nissan Motor all fell 2 percent to 3 percent.
Nissan Motor, Suzuki Motor, Toyota Motor, and Yamaha Motor Company fell considerably.
Among the gainers, Pacific Metals soared about 14%. Rakuten Inc. , Nippon Sheet Glass, Panasonic and Toto rose 2% to 4%.
Takara Holdings, Shiseido, JGC Corp. , Chiyoda Corp. , NGK Insulators and Matsui Securities rose 1% to 2%.
South Korea’s KOSPI rose into positive territory, gaining 23. 43 issues or 0. 95% to 2,493. 77.
LG Energy Solution is rising nearly 4% after the company reported a surge in quarterly earnings.
Shares of peers Samsung and SK Innovation gained about 4% and 3. 7%, respectively. POSCO Holdings rose about 3% and LG Chem gained about 4. 5%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was down 192. 46 points, or 1. 19%, at 16,019. 50.
Galaxy Entertainment is gaining more than 3%. CNOOC, Wharf Real Estate, Sino Biopharmaceuticals, Sands China, Bank of East Asia and Swire are up 1.5 to 2.3%.
The Shanghai Composite Index was down 10. 97 numbers or 0. 38% at 2,895. 14.
China Fortune rose only about 10%. Jinzhou Port, Poly Real Estate, Air China, China Minsheng Bank, Ningbo Port, China Grand Auto and Shanghai Petrochemicals gained between 1 and 2. 3 percent.
Sinopec is down more than 3%. China Railway, Yonyou Soft, China Life Insurance, China International, China Pacific Insurance, and New China Life are in negative territory.
In the New Zealand market, Steel Tube is down 4. 2%. Meriden Energy and Summerset are among other notable losers. Infratil, Goodman Property, Air New Zealand and Vector are all in moderately gainful territory.
The Malaysian and Singapore markets are higher, while the Australian market is closed for Australia Day.