Asian markets closed mixed at the close of trading on Friday, June 13, the closing session of the week. Japanese indices declined, while Chinese markets rose amid continued monitoring of the situation in the Middle East and the Iran-Israel conflict.
The People’s Bank of China, in its meeting this morning, Friday, left the key interest rates for one-year loans unchanged at 3% and for five-year loans at 3.5%. This decision was in line with market expectations after the rate cut in May for the first time since October of last year, by 10 basis points, to mitigate the impact of tariffs. On the other hand, in Japan, core inflation, which excludes volatile fresh food costs, rose to its highest level since January 2023 in May, reaching 3.7%, compared to a 3.5% increase in April, exceeding market expectations. A 101.7% rise in rice prices in May was the largest contributor to the increase in inflation.
The Nikkei index closed the session at 38,403 points, down 0.22%, or 338 points. The index recorded a weekly gain of 1.55%, while the Topix index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell by about 0.75% today, closing at 2,771 points. Nintendo and DeNA Co. led the losses on the Nikkei, with declines of more than 3%.
Chinese indices witnessed some mixed results in today’s closing session. The broader Chinese CSI300 index rose by about 0.09% today, closing at 3,846 points, while the Shanghai Composite index of the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed down 0.07% at 3,359 points. The Hang Seng Index, the main index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, rose by approximately 0.88% today, closing at 23,442 points, led by gains by Li Ning, which rose by more than 4%.
In contrast, the South Korean Kospi index rose by approximately 1.48% today, closing at 3,021 points, exceeding the 3,000 level for the first time in 42 months.
The Indian Sensex index rose by approximately 0.99% before the close, trading at 82,157 points, while the Nifty 50 index rose by approximately 0.92%, trading at 25,020 points.
Australian stock markets closed higher today, with the Australian ASX 200 index rising by approximately 0.21% at the close of the session at 8,505 points. New Zealand markets were on holiday, and the Singapore main index rose by 0.08% in pre-closing trading.