Asian Equities Mostly Lower As Tech Names Plunge, Japan Higher

Regional Asian equities are mostly lower on Friday with the exception of Japanese equities, in a sign investors are rethinking the optimism that propelled the region’s shares higher in the prior session, as fresh signs of persistent inflation appeared in the US, tech stocks are the worst performing sector in the region largely being pulled lower by weaker equity prices in the Hong Kong and Chinese markets, while the US Justice department is suing Apple for violating antitrust laws which may also be weighing on the tech sector.

• Japan equities have edged higher today, earlier National CPI missed expectations coming in at 2.8% y/y vs 2.9% expected, Finance Minister Suzuki spoke in Tokyo earlier about FX moves, while BoJ Governor Ueda appeared before parliament, where he mentioned the bank will eventually scale back its bond purchases, but not for the time being. The Topix Bank Index is the top performing sector up 1.61%, the wider Topix Index is up just 0.53%, while the Nikkei 225 broke above 41,000 for the first time earlier, however trades just off those levels now at 40,920 up 0.25% for the day.
• South Korean PPI data was out earlier this morning rising to 1.5% from 1.3% in January, equities are slightly lower in early trading with the Kospi down 0.25% after surging higher Thursday on higher tech prices, while foreign investors flooded the SK equity market on Thursday with $1.678b of inflows.
• Taiwanese equities opened higher this morning, however has turned lower after Asian tech stocks in China & HK plunge, the Taiex is currently down 0.16%. Late on Thursday the Central Bank rose interest rates from 1.875% to 2.00% with analysts suggesting that the Taiwan central bank's unexpected interest rate hike, aimed at addressing inflation concerns, is likely to be the final adjustment for this cycle, with minimal market impact given Taiwan's relatively low policy rate compared to the rest of Asia. Foreign investors bought Taiwan equities on Thursday with $529m of inflows, breaking a run of 5 consecutive days of outflows.
• Australian equities are lower today, as banks weigh on the markets the surge in employment on Thursday has pushed chances of a rate cut back further with just 41bps of cuts priced in for the year. The ASX200 closed down 0.15%
• Elsewhere in SEA, New Zealand Trade Balance narrowed from the month prior coming in at -$218m vs -$1,089m, equities closed up 0.53%, Singapore equities are down 0.35%, Philippines equities down 0.90%, Malaysian equities are down 0.12%, Indonesian equities are unchanged while Indian equities are 0.20% higher.