Asian markets recorded near-unitary gains at the close of trading on Friday, August 22, the closing session of the week. They turned from red at the beginning of the session, influenced by negative closings on Wall Street, to positive before the close, with investors focusing on the Jackson Hole symposium and Jerome Powell’s remarks regarding monetary policy and the future of US interest rates.
Figures released this morning from Japan showed that the core consumer price index, which measures inflation excluding volatile fresh food prices, rose for the second consecutive month to 3.1% in July, compared to a 3.3% increase in June. Expectations were for a 3% growth. Energy prices fell for the first time since March in July, falling by 0.3%, while food inflation excluding fresh produce rose to 8.3%. Japanese markets recorded gains today, with the Nikkei index closing the week at 42,633 points, up 0.05% or 23 points. The Topix index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose today by approximately 0.58%, closing at 3,100. Both indices recorded weekly losses of 1.7% and 0.2%, respectively. BayCurrent and Rakuten stocks led the declines on the Nikkei index, losing more than 3%.
Chinese indices posted gains in today’s closing session, with the broader Chinese CSI300 index rising approximately 2.10% today, closing at 4,378 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index of the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed 1.42% higher at 3,824. The Hang Seng Index, the main index tracking the largest technology companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, rose by approximately 87.0% today, closing at 25,322 points, with Semiconductor Manufacturing International leading the gains with gains of more than 10%.
In contrast, South Korea’s Kospi index rose by approximately 0.75% in today’s session, closing at 3,168 points.
India’s Sensex index lost approximately 0.70% before closing at 81,466 points, while the Nifty 50 index declined by approximately 0.66%, trading at 24,919 points. New Zealand stock markets closed with losses today, with the NZX50 index falling 1.15% to close at 13,042 points, while Australia’s ASX200 index fell 0.57% to close at 8,967 points. Singapore’s main index rose 0.40% in pre-market trading.