People visit a riverside in front of the Lujiazui financial district, during the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Shanghai, China, March 7, 2023.
This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points and major U.S. indexes continued their postelection rally.
Investors will be watching the final day of China's National People's Congress, which is expected to announce fiscal stimulus to support the world's second-largest economy.
Japan's household spending in September declined at a slower pace than expected, official data on Friday showed. Real household spending fell 1.1%, less than the 2.1% decline expected by economists polls by Reuters.
Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.3% to 39,500, while the broad-based Topix inched down marginally to close at 2,742.15.
South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.14% and finished at 2,561.15, but the small-cap Kosdaq gained 1.34% to 743.38.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index reversed gains to fall 0.95% as of its last hour of trade. Mainland China's CSI 300 was down 1% to close at 4,104.05.
Money Report
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.84% to 8,295.1, marking a third straight day of gains.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose Thursday, extending a rally after Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election and the latest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 gained 0.74% to close at a record high of 5,973.10. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.51% to reach 19,269.46, its first close above the 19,000 mark.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed, ticking down less than one point. All three indexes hit intraday record highs during the session. The Dow had gained 1,500 points in the previous session.
— CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.
Nissan shares plunge over 10% after downbeat quarterly results, production-cut plans
Shares of Japanese automaker Nissan tumbled as much as 10.12%, a day after the company posted downbeat quarterly results and said it would reduce global production capacity by 20%.
Shares of the company — which also announced plans to cut staff by 9,000 — hit a four-year intraday low of 368.5 yen on Friday, their weakest since September 2020.
In its second-quarter results ended September, Nissan recorded a 9.3 billion yen (about $62 million) net loss, a reversal from the 190.7 billion yen net profit it made in the same quarter last year.
Operating profit in the second quarter plunged almost 85% year-on-year to 31.9 billion yen, while revenue dropped 5% to 2.99 trillion yen.
Read the full story here.
Trump policies may weaken the yen, Japan opposition party head reportedly says
Policies from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could further weaken the yen's value against the U.S. dollar, Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of Japan's Democratic Party for the People reportedly said.
Tamaki said that "the potential increase in tariffs or tax cuts could lead to inflation (in the U.S.) and therefore higher interest rates," Reuters reported.
The DPP is one of the opposition parties that could form a coalition government with Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, which lost its majority in the country's lower house last month.
— Lim Hui Jie
Japan spent about $36 billion to prop up the yen in July
Japan's ministry of finance spent more than 5.5 trillion yen ($35.92 billion) on intervention operations on July 11 and 12 to support the yen, according to the ministry's quarterly release.
On July 10, the yen wekened to an intraday low of 161.82, just shy of its 38-year record of 161.99 achieved on July 3. The yen then sharply strengthened for two straight days, hitting 157.37 on July 12.
— Lim Hui Jie
Toyota confirms $1.45 billion investment in Mexico, minsiter Marcelo Ebrard says
Japanese automaker Toyota has confirmed a $1.45 billion investment in Mexico's Baja California and Guanajuato by the end of 2024.
Mexico economy secretary Marcelo Ebrard said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Both locations have exsisting Toyota manufacturing plants.
— Lim Hui Jie
Hong Kong's central bank follows Fed in cutting interest rates by 25 basis points
Hong Kong's monetary authority on Friday cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 5%, mirroring the U.S. Federal Reserve move overnight.
Hong Kong's interest rates tend to move in lockstep with the Fed actions.
The region's interest rate is set at 50 basis points above the Fed's lower range — currently at 4.5% — or the average of the five-day moving averages of the overnight and one-month Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rates, known as HIBORs, whichever is higher.
— Lim Hui Jie
Japan's real household spending declines less than expected at 1.1%
Japan's average real household spending declined by a less-then-expected 1.1% in September, compared to the 2.1% drop estimated by economists polled by Reuters.
Data from the country's statistics bureau revealed that the average household expenditure was 287,963 yen ($1,880.59).
Average monthly income per household in September was at 493,942 yen, down 1.6% in real terms from the same period a year earlier.
— Lim Hui Jie
CNBC Pro: The sectors — and stocks — to buy in Asia after Trump's win, according to analysts
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in this week's election has raised questions about how Asia will be impacted.
"At face value, Trump 2.0 is bad news for Asia, esp[ecially] China," analysts at Macquarie Research wrote in a Nov. 7 note, given the president-elect's plans to raise tariffs and cut taxes.
Even so, the analysts say the region is "more prepared than in 2016" and investment opportunities remain, especially given the weaker yen and stimulus in China.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Amala Balakrishner
CNBC Pro: Bitcoin's on track to hit $100,000 after Trump's election victory, analysts say
Bitcoin is on track to hit the $100,000 price milestone by the end of the year after President-elect Donald Trump's election victory, according to analysts.
Trump, who on Wednesday beat Vice President Kamala Harris to win the 2024 U.S. election, had promised several pro-cryptocurrency initiatives in the months leading up to the vote.
CNBC Pro asked analysts for their bitcoin price targets, and when they expect the cryptocurrency to hit them.
Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ryan Browne
Election will not change Fed policy in the near term, Powell says
Fed Chair Powell said during his press conference that the results of the election will have "no effect" on Fed policy in the near term.
Watch and follow along with CNBC's coverage of the presser here.
— Jesse Pound
Retail investors' market participation surged following U.S. election, JPMorgan says
The participation of retail investors after the U.S. election was approximately 5% higher than levels during the 2020 cycle, JPMorgan wrote in a Thursday note to clients.
"Demand for broad market ETFs, leveraged bull tech and Bitcoin ETFs are at multi sigma highs (SPY +15z, TQQQ +11z, IBIT +15z). On the other hand, they sold GLD aggressively (-16z) amid gold's tumbling on dollar strength. In singles, they chased the rally in TSLA (+2z) and PLTR (+6.6z) while selling some Financial names at the peak (CCNE -14z)," strategist Emma Wu added.
Sector wise, Wu said it was apparent retail investors had been continuing to position toward consumer staples and health-care names and away from tech-exposed stocks.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Powell says he would not resign if Trump asked him to
During a press conference Thursday afternoon, Powell said he would not step down from his position as Fed chief even if President-elect Donald Trump asked him to.
"No," he said in response to a reporter's question on whether or not he would leave if Trump asked him to resign.
Later on, another reporter asked Powell if the president had the power to fire or demote him from his position. The Fed chair responded that such an action was "not permitted under the law."
— Lisa Kailai Han, Spencer Kimball
