Asian markets closed mixed at the end of trading on Friday, July 18, the closing session of the week. Japanese indices declined as fears of a loss for the prime minister’s coalition in Sunday’s elections mounted. Chinese markets rose, and Australian stock markets reached a record high, coinciding with Wall Street’s close at record levels.
In economic data released this morning, figures from Japan showed that the headline inflation rate slowed to 3.3% in June, down from a 29-month high in May, rising to 3.7%, matching expectations. Core inflation, which excludes fresh food and energy prices, rose to 3.4% in June, compared to 3.3% in May. Meanwhile, markets are awaiting the upper house elections in Japan next Sunday. A report from the Nikkei newspaper indicated that the ruling coalition led by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and current Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba could lose its majority, given the advance of emerging parties. This has fueled market concerns about the future of monetary policy in Japan, as well as the failure to reach a trade agreement with the US President regarding tariffs, which are set to take effect on August 1. The Nikkei index closed the session at 39,819 points, down 0.21%, or 82 points, while the index recorded weekly gains of 0.65%. The Topix index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell today by approximately 0.19%, closing at 2,834 points. Disco and Advantest Corp. led the losses on the Nikkei index, with declines of more than 4%. Chinese indices posted gains in today’s closing session, with the broader CSI300 index rising by 0.60% to close at 4,058 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.50% higher at 3,534.
The Chinese Minister of Commerce announced that the United States had taken steps to approve the sale of Nvidia’s advanced H20 chips to the Chinese market, which supported the technology sector and chip stocks listed in China.
The Hang Seng Index, the main index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, rose by 1.19% today, closing at 24,789 points, with ZTO Express leading the gains with a gain of more than 6%.
Conversely, the South Korean Kospi index fell by 0.13% in today’s session, closing at 3,188 points. India’s Sensex index lost about 0.67% before closing at 81,704 points, while the Nifty 50 index declined by about 0.64% to trade at 24,951 points.
New Zealand stock markets closed with losses today, with the NZX 50 index falling by about 0.19% to close at 12,880 points, while Australia’s ASX 200 index rose by about 1.37% to close at 8,757 points, marking a new record high. Singapore’s main index rose by 0.62% in pre-closing trading.