Asia report: Stocks mixed, tech plays soar on Nvidia rally

Asia-Pacific markets finished Friday in a mixed state, with the influence of Wall Street's overnight tech rally counterbalanced by ongoing concerns over the unresolved US federal debt ceiling issue.

Nvidia's much-better-than-expected next-quarter guidance spurred a boost in tech stocks, uplifting overall sentiment.

“Asian equity markets generally strengthened, taking cues from the rally in the US driven by AI technology stocks,” said Patrick Munnelly at TickMill Group.

“Additionally, reports surfaced indicating progress in resolving the US debt ceiling issue, with discussions revolving around raising the debt limit and implementing spending caps for the next two years.

“While the final details are yet to be determined, the indications of a potential agreement brought some optimism.”

Major markets lifted by boost in technology stocks

Japanese stocks showed a varied performance, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.37% to close at 30,916.31, while the Topix narrowly edged down 0.01% to 2,145.84.

Standout performers on Tokyo’s benchmark included Kawasaki Heavy Industries, up by 6.66%, Taiyo Yuden, up 6.52%, and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing, which saw a 5.79% gain.

In China, both the Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indices rose, albeit modestly, by 0.35% and 0.12% to 3,212.50 and 10,909.65 respectively.

ArcSoft skyrocketed by 20% in Shanghai, with ENC Digital Technology also posting impressive gains of 10.02%.

Traders in Hong Kong enjoyed the day off for the Buddha’s Birthday holiday, while South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.16% to 2,558.81, bolstered by tech firms SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, which surged by 5.51% and 2.18% respectively.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose slightly by 0.23% to close at 7,154.80, led by APM Human Services, up by 9.68%, and Altium, which climbed 3.56%.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50, however, dropped 1.09% to 11,830.03, pulled down by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Investore Property, falling by 6.51% and 3.42% respectively.

In the currency markets, the yen was last 0.19% stronger on the dollar to trade at JPY 139.7, while the Aussie was ahead 0.49% at AUD 1.5296.

The Kiwi also advanced on the greenback, last moving ahead 0.45% to change hands at NZD 1.6419.

On the oil front, Brent crude futures were last up 0.64% on ICE at $76.75 per barrel, and the NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate advanced 0.92% to $72.49.

Tokyo core inflation comes in below expectations

In economic news, Tokyo's core inflation saw a year-on-year increase of 3.2% in May according to fresh government data, making for a deceleration from April's 3.5% rise.

The city's consumer price index (CPI), excluding fresh food, did not meet the 3.3% economists polled by Reuters had been expecting.

At the same time, the so-called ‘core-core’ CPI, further excluding fuel costs, revealed an accelerated rise of 3.9%, marking the quickest yearly pace since April 1982.

“The Tokyo CPI report probably will reinforce the Bank of Japan’s view that Japanese inflation is principally cost-push, as the lagged effect of higher import costs is still driving up goods inflation,” said Duncan Wrigley at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

“Falling real wages and relatively subdued services inflation, even in the hottest tourism-related sector, suggest that underlying inflation has yet to gain much traction.”

Wrigley noted that BoJ governor Kazuo Ueda said yesterday that the central bank would respond quickly if it saw a “structural” change in price pressures, without elaborating on what that meant.

“But in his first speech he was more worried about ‘hastily’ making policy changes that set back Japan’s progress towards sustainable underlying inflation, than the risk of leaving policy tightening too late.

“The BoJ is likely to leave policy settings unchanged at its 16 June meeting.”

In Australia, retail sales stagnated in April, contrasting with a predicted 0.2% rise according to Reuters, as well as the 0.4% uptick recorded in March.

A year-on-year read, however, showed growth of 4.2% in retail sales, according to the data out of Canberra.

Elsewhere, Indonesia's central bank has held steady its seven-day reverse repurchase rates at 5.75% for the fourth consecutive month.

The deposit facility rate and lending facility rate remained at 5% and 6.5% respectively.

In Singapore, manufacturing output in April plunged 6.9% year-on-year, surpassing the 4.4% fall predicted by economists in Reuters polling.

Excluding the biomedical sector, output was down 6.1% compared to the same period last year.

The transport engineering sector saw the most significant growth, with output soaring 14.5% on the year, while the biomedical manufacturing area had the largest drop, tumbling 11.1%.

Finally on data, Malaysia's headline inflation rate moderated to a 3.3% year-on-year rise in April, slightly down from March's 3.4%.

It was the lowest rate since May last year, and marked six consecutive months of cooling inflation since peaking at 4.7% in August.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

NIKKEI 225 +115.18 (+0.37%) 30,916.31

RISERS
Kawasaki Heavy Industries +6.66% JPY 3,140.0
Taiyo Yuden +6.52% JPY 4,410.0
Dainippon Screen Manufacturing +5.79% JPY 14,430.0
Fujikura +4.44% JPY 1,105.0
Tokyo Electron +4.44% JPY 19,635.0

FALLERS
Isuzu Motors -3.5% JPY 1,627.0
Inpex Corporation -3.2% JPY 1,511.0
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding -3.16% JPY 490.0
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma -3.12% JPY 683.0
Unitika -3.08% JPY 220.0

SHANGHAI COMPOSITE +11.24 (+0.35%) 3,212.50

RISERS
Arcsoft Corporation +20% CNY 43.38
ENC Digital Technology +10.02% CNY 10.10
Chongqing Taiji Industry Group +10.01% CNY 67.29
Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings +10.01% CNY 35.93
GuangDong Super Telecom +10% CNY 32.11

FALLERS
Beijing Worldia Diamond Tools -29.26% CNY 22.31
Delixi Xinjiang Transportation -9.66% CNY 51.18
Guangxi Guidong Electric Power -7.25% CNY 4.48
Guanghui Energy -7.03% CNY 7.67
Beijing Qianjing Landscape -6.1% CNY 5.70

KOSPI 100 +16.22 (+0.64%) 2,544.73

RISERS
SK Hynix +5.51% KRW 109,200
Samsung Electronics +2.18% KRW 70,300
FF Co +1.81% KRW 134,700
SK Holdings +1.77% KRW 172,800
SK Square +1.64% KRW 46,350

FALLERS
NCsoft Corporation -6.84% KRW 333,500
HMM -3.19% KRW 17,620
Korea Aerospace -3.03% KRW 51,200
Doosan Bobcat -2.87% KRW 54,200
Hyundai Engineering & Construction -2.62% KRW 39,050

S&P/ASX 200 +16.60 (+0.23%) 7,154.80

RISERS
APM Human Services International +9.68% AUD 2.04
Altium +3.56% AUD 39.85
NextDC +3.45% AUD 12.61
Fortescue Metals Group +3.26% AUD 19.62
Incitec Pivot +3.06% AUD 3.03

FALLERS
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare -6.29% AUD 22.48
CSR -5.05% AUD 5.08
Block Inc -4.75% AUD 90.40
BSP Financial Group -4.68% AUD 4.89
New Hope Corporation -2.56% AUD 4.95

S&P/NZX 50 -129.82 (-1.08%) 11,830.03

RISERS
Eroad +7.02% NZD 0.61
Stride Property +3.05% NZD 1.35
Synlait Milk +2.63% NZD 1.56
Sky Network Television +1.97% NZD 2.59
KMD Brands +1.8% NZD 1.13

FALLERS
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare -6.51% NZD 23.98
Investore Property -3.42% NZD 1.41
Sanford -2.35% NZD 4.15
Vista Group -2.1% NZD 1.40
NZX -1.74% NZD 1.13