Asia report: Markets finish mixed but Nikkei 225, KOSPI hit new records

(Sharecast News) - Asian stock markets finished in mixed fashion on Friday as economic data from China disappointed, while strong US tech earnings gave Japanese and South Korean equities a big boost.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 surged 2.1% to a new record high after results from US heavyweights Amazon and Apple released after the closing bell impressed investors, leading to big gains in after-hours trading on Wall Street. Japanese tech names like Hitachi, Socionext and Advantest all rallied.

South Korea's KOSPI also finished up, rising 0.5% to another all-time peak, to extend its gain over the month of October to 20%. Friday's gain was also helped by strong performances in the tech sector, with blue chip Samsung rising strongly.

However, stock markets elsewhere struggled to keep their head above water despite a de-escalation in trade tensions between Beijing and Washington on Thursday. The Hang Seng index fell 1.4%, the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.8%, while the ASX 200 and STI finished marginally lower.

"The record rally stumbled as investors deemed that the conclusion of the talks between the US and China and some mixed mega cap tech earnings had failed to live up to their billing," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, highlighting a negative reaction to both Meta Platforms and Microsoft's earnings.

"In terms of the trade talks, there was notable progress on the likes of fentanyl tariffs, rare earth exports and soyabeans, leading to an effusive parting shot from the US President. However, the TikTok and Nvidia spats on which investors had hoped to see some resolution failed to materialise, suggesting that the story is far from over."

In economic data, China's manufacturing downturn continued for the seventh straight month in October, as export orders shrank on the back of the Beijing's ongoing trade war with Washington.

Official data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the manufacturing purchasing managers' index declined to 49.0 from 49.8 in September. This was below the 49.6 consensus forecast and the steepest contraction - marked by any figure below the neutral 50.0 mark - since April.

In contrast, the non-manufacturing PMI edged up to 50.1 from 50.0, coming in slightly ahead of analysts' expectations for no change.

In Asian equity news, electric car company BYD saw shares fall 3% after third-quarter results missed market forecasts with a 33% year-on-year slump in profits amid ongoing fierce competition in the market. The stock fell to its lowest since February.

South Korean giant Samsung jumped 3% after announcing it is to build a so-called AI Megafactory using 50,000 Nvidia GPUs to "establish the foundation of next-generation, AI-driven production".