Asian markets mostly down – Meta outlook dampens sentiment

In a stock trading session marked by restraint, the majority of Asian stock markets ended the trading day with losses. Mixed signals from the USA and the sobering business outlook of technology giant Meta were responsible for the dampened investor sentiment. Despite a trading failure in Australia due to a public holiday, the downward trend was unmistakable. At the Tokyo stock exchange, the mood was particularly clouded. Share values there fell sharply, for which market experts cited two reasons. Firstly, the yen, which reached its lowest level against the US dollar in over three decades, caused unease. Secondly, investors' eyes may turn to the upcoming session of the Bank of Japan, where no change in interest rates is expected but possible conclusions about the course of monetary policy could be drawn. The risk of interventions in the foreign exchange market persists. The Nikkei 225 subsequently lost 2.16 percent and closed at 37,628.48 points. In South Korea, SK Hynix shares were in focus, which, following gains the previous day and the negative pull from Meta, recorded losses. Even forward-looking comments on the market development of memory chips could not support the price, nor could the positive economic data regarding South Korea's gross domestic product. Only the Chinese stock markets fared slightly better in the difficult international environment. The Hang Seng Index in the special administrative region of Hong Kong achieved a slight upswing and ended just in the green, while the CSI 300 Index, which combines the leading stocks of the Chinese mainland exchanges, recorded a modest profit-taking of 0.12 percent and ended at 3525.88 points.