Commercial and residential buildings at dusk in the Minato district of Tokyo, Japan.
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Asia-Pacific markets mostly declined Friday as electric vehicle stocks in the region dropped for a second day, while investors also digested inflation data from Tokyo.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Xpeng and Li Auto fell about 2.5% each, while BYD fell 3.5%. The broader Hang Seng Index dropped 0.4%, while the Hang Seng Tech index, housing most EVs, shed 1.7%.
Tesla shares fell 12% in U.S. trading on Thursday after the EV giant missed earnings expectations and warned of a slowdown in 2024, which also triggered a sell-off in Asian EV companies.
China’s CSI 300 dropped 0.3%, retreating from a 2% bounce in the previous session after property stocks got a boost from Beijing’s plans to boost liquidity in the beleaguered sector.
They extended gains on Friday, with the CSI 300 real estate sector hitting a near four-week high after rising 2.7% in morning trading.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1% after the January inflation reading from Tokyo came in softer compared to December. Tokyo’s data is widely considered to be a leading indicator for nationwide inflation. The broad based Topix fell 0.9%
Tokyo’s headline and core inflation rate for January came in at 1.6%, compared with 2.4% and 2.1%, respectively, in December.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.8%, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 1.5%.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes gained, with the S&P500 index advancing 0.53% to reach a record high of 4,894.16, notching a six-day winning streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.64%, while, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.18%, weighed down by a post-earnings tumble in Tesla shares.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Brian Evans contributed to this report.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Australia markets are closed for a public holiday on Friday.
