Japan stocks hit fresh record amid mixed trading in Asia after Fed cut rates as expected
Bird’s-eye view of central Tokyo including Tokyo Tower at sunrise hours.
Vladimir Zakharov | Moment | Getty Images
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.13% to a fresh record Thursday, led by gains in the real estate and technology sectors.
The top movers were led by chemical company Resonac Holdings, which jumped more than 10%, semiconductor manufacturer Screen Holdings, which added nearly 4.3%, and beverage giant Kirin Holdings, which gained 4.3%.
Other Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed after the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark rate as expected on Wednesday, with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell framing the move as a “risk management cut,” rather than something more directed at shoring up a weak economy.
The Fed also indicated two more rate cuts could be made by the year’s end, another in 2026, one more in 2027, and no cuts in 2028.
South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.96%, while Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 slid 0.51%.
Shares of Australian gas producer Santos fell over 11% to A$6.78 after a consortium led by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) aborted its $18.7 billion acquisition bid following protracted disputes over price and conditions.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.17%, while the mainland CSI 300 lost 0.23%.
Asian chip stocks rose after a report claimed that China has banned Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips.
Shares of South Korea’s SK Hynix, which supplies memory chips to Nvidia, gained 5.5%. TSMC, which manufactures Nvidia’s high-performance graphics processing units that help power large language models, saw a smaller rise of 0.79%.
Samsung Electronics inched 2% higher. Advantest gained 3.54%, and Tokyo Electron jumped 4.54%
The Bank of Japan is kick-starting its two-day policy meeting, where it is expected by most economists to keep policy rates steady.
HSBC expects policy rates to remain unchanged in the upcoming meeting, but sees a 25 basis point hike this year at the October meeting, which will raise the policy rate to 0.75%.
“Bank of Japan officials are looking for signs of economic resilience, and we believe that the second quarter GDP print, which outperformed market expectations, certainly delivered,” HSBC’s economists wrote. “With its U.S. trade deal finalized, Japan’s exporters received some relief from potentially even higher tariffs, but they could still be impacted by a future slowdown in global trade.”
U.S. stock futures rose slightly on Wednesday stateside as investors continued to digest the latest rate cut decision from the Federal Reserve.
Overnight in the U.S., the major averages closed mixed after a volatile day of trading. While the rate reduction was no surprise, markets weren’t sure what to make of it all.
An initial rally on the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost a little steam, but the blue-chip index still closed up 260.42 points, or 0.6%, at 46,018.32, after earlier hitting an all-time high. However, the S&P 500 settled down 0.1% at 6,600.35, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.3% to 22,261.33.
“In addition to the political jabs aimed at them, the Fed is in a tough spot. They expect stagflation, or higher inflation and a weaker labor market. That is not a great environment for financial assets,” said Jack McIntyre, Portfolio Manager at Brandywine Global.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox, Pia Singh and Alex Harring contributed to this report.
