Asian markets mixed

Asia-Pacific stocks showed mixed results on Friday as investors assessed economic data from China and Japan, along with the European Central Bank’s rate cut. China’s May exports exceeded expectations, rising 7.6% versus the anticipated 6%, and significantly higher than April’s 1.5% increase. However, imports grew only 1.8% year-on-year, falling short of the expected 4.2%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.63% after earlier gains, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 saw a larger decline of 0.73%.

In Japan, household spending figures for April showed average monthly consumption expenditures per household at 313,300 yen, a 3.4% increase nominally and 0.5% rise in real terms, marking the first real spending increase since February 2023. April is critical for wage hikes, as it starts the financial year for Japanese companies.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.11%, and the Topix index declined marginally. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.84% post-holiday, and the small-cap Kosdaq gained 1.31%.