Asia markets rise in muted session as most markets closed for holiday

The Bank of Japan’s holdings of Japanese government bonds reached a record by the end of March, data showed on Friday.

The central bank held 581.7 trillion yen of JGBs as of March 31, it said in its release — the largest amount since the BOJ started compiling data in 2013, according to Reuters.

— Jihye Lee

China imposed further sanctions on Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the U.S. Hsiao Bi-khim for allegedly “relying on the U.S. to seek Taiwan’s independence,” state media Xinhua News Agency reported, citing China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.

The measures prohibit Hsiao and her family members from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao. It also bans investors and companies related to Hsiao from “cooperating with mainland organizations and individuals,” the report said.

The measures come after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a stopover in California earlier this week.

— Jihye Lee

Asia currencies traded mixed on Friday as the dollar index rose 0.12% to 101.95 in the morning session.

The Japanese yen traded at slightly stronger levels at 131.75 against the greenback while the Korean won weakened marginally to 1,319.80 against the U.S. dollar.

The offshore Chinese yuan also saw some strengthening to 6.8855 against the greenback.

The Australian dollar was volatile and last stood at 0.6673 per U.S. dollar.

— Jihye Lee

Japan’s all household spending rose 1.6% in February compared with a year ago, government data showed.

The reading was lower than expectations of 4.3% forecast in a Reuters poll, while notching up from a contraction of 0.3% seen in January.

Month-on-month, all household spending fell 2.4%, reversing the growth of 2.7% seen in the previous month.

Separately, Japan’s economy saw overtime pay in February rise 1.7% compared with a year ago, ticking upward from the previous reading of 1.1%.

— Jihye Lee

Samsung Electronics estimated its first-quarter operating profit likely fell to 600 billion won ($455 million) according to the company’s latest earnings guidance released on Friday.

That’s a 95.7% plunge from its operating profit of 14.12 trillion won reported in the same quarter in 2022.

Revenue is expected to have fallen nearly 20% compared with last year’s 63 trillion won, Samsung said in its release.

Shares of Samsung Electronics sharply rose 3.2% at the open following the company estimates.

— Jihye Lee

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— Zavier Ong

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said Thursday he doesn’t see inflationary pressures going away soon.

We’ve got a long ways to go and I think inflation is going to be sticky going forward, it’s going to be difficult to get inflation back down to the 2% target … so we are going to have to stay at it in order to apply pressure to make sure inflation gets back down,” Bullard said, according to Reuters.

The Fed is scheduled to meet next month, with traders pricing in a near 50-50 chance of another rate hike.

— Fred Imbert

The first-quarter earnings season kicks off next week with big banks including JPMorgan and Citigroup reporting. Consensus expectations are for S&P 500’s earnings per share to fall by 7% year over year, the largest decline since the third quarter of 2020, according to Goldman Sachs. It will also mark a “significant deterioration” from the 1% decline in the prior quarter, the bank said.

— Yun Li

Jobless claims totaled 228,000 for the week ended April 1, as signs build that the labor market is coming under pressure, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The total actually represented a decline of 18,000 from the week before, following seasonal revisions that took the initially reported number up by 48,000 to 246,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 200,000 from Thursday’s report.

Continuing claims, which run a week behind, edged higher to 1.823 million, the highest since December 2021.

The report comes a day ahead of the department’s nonfarm payrolls count, which is expected to show a gain of 238,000 for March.

—Jeff Cox