Powell comments, Japan GDP, China retail sales,
A view of the night scenery in Shanghai, China
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Asia markets were mixed Friday as Wall Street fell after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated the central bank was in no rush to cut rates, with investors also assessing China and Japan economic data.
Speaking in Dallas, Powell pointed out that strong U.S. economic growth will allow policymakers to take their time in deciding how far and how fast they should lower interest rates.
In Asia, investors assessed key economic data from China on Friday, which included October numbers for retail sales, industrial production and urban unemployment.
China’s retail sales rose more than expected in October, while industrial production and investment data missed forecasts.
The unemployment rate in cities fell to 5% in October, down from 5.1% in September.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.23%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.82% after the data release.
Separately, Japan on Friday reported its third-quarter GDP expanded 0.3% year-on-year, snapping two straight quarters of year-on-year declines. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP rose 0.2%, in line with Reuters poll estimates.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.28% after the GDP announcement and closed at 38,642.91, while the broad-based Topix rose 0.39% higher at 2,711.64. The yen strengthened marginally against the U.S. dollar to 156.19, after initially weakening after the GDP release.
South Korea’s Kospi ended marginally lower at 2,416.86, despite shares of heavyweight Samsung Electronics surging 7.21%, while the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 0.57% and ended at 685.42.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.74%, finishing at 8,285.2.
Overnight in the U.S., all three indexes fell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.47%.
The S&P 500 fell 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 0.64%.
So-called “Trump trades” also lost steam as the market rally cooled. Tesla tumbled 5.8%, while the small-cap benchmark Russell 2000 dropped more than 1%, underperforming the major averages.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
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