Most of the main indexes in Asia and Oceania ended the last session of the week lower on Friday (19/7), following the negative sentiment on Wall Street.
Investors continue to avoid tech stocks and take profits from the stock’s rally in recent weeks.
In Asia, inflation in Japan stood at 2.8% in June, unchanged from May, while core inflation, which strips out fresh food prices, accelerated to 2.6% from 2.5%.
However, the core inflation reading was lower than the 2.7 percent expected in a Reuters poll of economists.
More than 75% of economists in a Reuters poll said Japan’s central bank is unlikely to raise interest rates at its July policy meeting as it seeks to support economic growth.
Japanese chip-related stocks bounced back from losses on Thursday, with semiconductor suppliers posting gains. Tokyo Electron rose 2.3%, Advantest gained 2% and LaserTec rose 1.34%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell more than 2 percent, leading losses in Asia as energy stocks fell. However, Chinese chip stocks listed in Hong Kong rallied, breaking the bearish trend, with Hua Hong Semiconductor up 4.46% and SMIC up 1.5%.
In this context, the Japanese Nikkei fell 0.07% to close at 40,092 points, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.23% to 17,390 points.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.17% to 2,982.31, with the Shenzhen Component up 0.33% to 8,908.93.
The Kospi fell 1.03% to 2,795.31, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed at 7,971.60, losing 0.81%.