Anshun bridge reflecting in the Jinjiang river at dusk in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
© Philippe Lejeanvre | Moment Open | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Friday after China kept benchmark rates steady, while investors monitored escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump is now weighing whether to back the Israeli military and strike Tehran. The White House said that he will make a final decision within the next two weeks.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended the day 1.26% higher at 23,530, while mainland China’s CSI 300 index closed flat at 3,846.64, after the People’s Bank of China expectedly kept its loan rates unchanged at 3.0% for the 1-year loan prime rate and 3.5% for the 5-year LPR.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 closed 0.22% lower at 38,403.23 while the broader Topix index fell 0.75% in choppy trade to 2,771.26
The country’s core inflation rate climbed to 3.7% in May, its highest level since January 2023. The metric — which strips out costs for fresh food — was higher than the 3.6% expected by economists polled by Reuters and is above April’s print of 3.5%.
In South Korea, the Kospi index increased by 1.48% to end the day at 3,021.84, it’s highest in over 42 months, after crossing the 3,000 mark for the first time in 42 months, earlier in the session. Meanwhile, the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 1.15% to 791.53
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ended the day down 0.21%, paring losses to close at 8,505.50.
India’s benchmark Nifty 50 advanced 1.05% while the BSE Sensex gained 1.13% as at 1.40 p.m. Indian Standard Time.
U.S. stock futures fell in early Asian hours as investors pored through the latest developments in the Middle East.
Overnight stateside, regular trading was closed for the Juneteenth holiday.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans contributed to this report.
