As Asian stock exchanges had a mixed performance this Friday. The Tokyo market rose ahead of general elections in Japan that are expected to solidify Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s power.
In the opposite direction, Seoul and Hong Kong recorded sharp losses due to sales of technology shares with forecast capital expenditures by giants such as Amazon and Alphabet to face the race for infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei index closed up 0.8%, at 54,253.68 points. US President Donald Trump declared his support for Japan’s prime minister and her coalition ahead of Sunday’s legislative elections.
Ajinomoto shares jumped 13% after the food and condiment company reported a 16% increase in fiscal third-quarter operating profit from the same period a year earlier.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 1.2%, at 26,559.95 points. Knowledge Atlas Techno, a developer of large general-purpose systems, fell 6%.
Momentum trades, which have performed very well in recent quarters, are being unwound, said Eugene Leow of DBS Group Research. “This includes long positions in technology, long positions in precious metals and short positions in the dollar,” the senior interest rate strategist said.
In Seoul, the Kospi fell 1.4% to 5,089.14 points. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both lost 0.4%. CJ Cheiljedang fell 1% after the food company announced a cut in flour and sugar prices, citing that the strategy aims to ease inflationary pressures.
Benchmarks for the Chinese mainland market, the Chinese Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.25%, at 4,065.58 points, and the less comprehensive Shenzhen Composite index was stable, at 2,649.57 points.
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.1% to 31,782.92 points.
In Oceania, the Australian stock market fell and the S&P/ASX index fell 2%, to 8,708.80 points. REA Group, a digital advertising company specializing in real estate, lost 7.8% after results. BHP gave 3%.
