Asian benchmarks trade mixed following rally on Wall Street led by technology issues

TOKYO: Asian shares were trading mixed Friday, as market sentiment for some regional benchmarks got a boost from the tech-led rally on Wall Street.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.3 per cent to finish at 65,020.94. South Korea's Kospi gained 1.7 per cent to 6,690.72. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.2 per cent to 9,005.90. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.8 per cent to 25,658.73, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.5 per cent to 3,921.40.

Stocks on Wall Street closed higher Thursday as a recent run-up in bond yields eased further and big technology companies rallied. The S&P 500 rose 1.1 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite closed 1.4 per cent higher.

Communication services stocks also accounted for a large share of the rally. Their huge valuations tend to give them more influence over the broader market's direction.

Microsoft rose 2.7 per cent, Apple gained 1 per cent and Meta climbed 3 per cent. Giant chipmaker Nvidia, whose high-end chips have emerged as the best building blocks for artificial intelligence, rose 1.8 per cent after saying it would buy the AI platform Hugging Face for USD 13 billion.

In energy trading, benchmark US crude edged up 21 cents to USD 91.51 a barrel. Brent crude fell 2 cents to USD 95.50 a barrel.

The six-month US war with Iran, which has intensified lately, is the main cause behind the recent surge in energy prices.

Many nations depend on access to the Strait of Hormuz to import oil from the Middle East.

Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for US bombardments earlier in the week.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, dropped to 4.77 per cent from 4.79 per cent late Wednesday. It has been rising steadily throughout the year and was as low as 4.20 per cent at the beginning of 2026.

On interest rates, some investors are taking the recent remarks by Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller as a sign that perhaps the Fed isn't as likely to raise its short-term interest rates at its next policy meeting in two weeks as previously expected.

Waller said that, if new data next week shows inflation is cooling, he “would be inclined” to keep the Fed's benchmark interest rate unchanged. Should the data show hotter inflation, he would consider a rate hike.

Market players are also closely watching what Japan's central bank might do on interest rates when its policy board meets later this month. Some analysts expect the Bank of Japan to raise its benchmark rate, and the question is by how much. Some reports say Japan is facing pressures to raise the interest rate so that the yen will move higher.

In currency trading, the US dollar edged up to 156.18 Japanese yen from 155.84 yen. The euro cost USD 1.1632, little changed from USD 1.1631.