Asia Mostly Falls on Trade Developments

Asia markets ended the day mostly in the red.

In Japan, markets cooled off Friday, with the Nikkei 225 surrendering 370.11 points, or 0.9%, to 41,456.23.

The Bank of Japan is expected to deliver a 25-basis-points hike in October, bringing the policy rate up to 0.75%, as the recent U.S.-Japan trade deal provided a timely boost to growth prospects, HSBC wrote in a Friday note.

Inflation in Japan’s capital of Tokyo came in at 2.9% for July, softening from the 3.1% seen in June.

Core inflation, which strips out prices of volatile fresh food, also fell to 2.9% in July from 3.1% in the previous month. The latest reading was lower than the 3% expected by a Reuters poll of economists.

Tokyo’s inflation figures are widely considered to be a leading indicator of nationwide trends.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng lost 278.83 points, or 1.1%, to 25,338.35.

In other markets

In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dumped 21.86 points, or 0.5%, to 4,127.16.

In Korea, the Kospi index recovered 13.83 points, or 0.4%, to 3,183.77.

In Singapore, the Straits Times index moved forward 41.77 points, or 1%, to 4,273.05.

In Korea, the Kospi index inched up 5.6 points, or 0.2%, to 3,196.05.

In Taiwan, the Taiex index dipped 9.35 points to 23,364.38.

In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 48.32 points, or 0.4%, to 12,853.46.

In Australia, the ASX 200 slipped 42.56 points, or 0.5%, to 8,666.86.