Asia markets today: Live updates for May 30, 2025
A HDR evening shot taken at sunset of the Tokyo skyline.
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Asia-Pacific markets fell Friday, with a slowing U.S. economy, inflation fears and uncertainties from the judicial developments surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs weighing on investor sentiment.
The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled on Wednesday night that Trump had overstepped his authority when he imposed his "reciprocal" tariffs. The court ordered that the challenged tariff orders be vacated.
However, the Trump administration filed a notice of appeal shortly after the judgment, and an appeals court reinstated the levies on Thursday afternoon. The administration said it could ask the Supreme Court as early as Friday to pause the federal court's original ruling if necessary.
Trade talks between the U.S. and China were also "a bit stalled," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News in an interview Thursday local time.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 0.91% in its final hour of trade while the broader Topix index moved down 0.13% as investors parsed a slew of data releases.
Tokyo's core inflation reading for April, which captures consumer costs excluding fresh food, climbed 3.6% from a year ago, its highest level since January 2023.
In South Korea, the Kospi index dropped 0.91%, while the small-cap Kosdaq lose 0.28% in its last hour.
Mainland China's CSI 300 index declined 0.26% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.58%.
Meanwhile, India's benchmark Nifty 50 fell 0.3% while the BSE Sensex inched 0.28% lower.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% to end the day at 8,434.70.
U.S. futures also slipped as investors await more trade news and fresh inflation data. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back 58 points, or 0.14%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.24%, while Nasdaq-100 futures declined 0.3%.
Overnight stateside, all three key benchmarks on Wall Street rose, even as gains were curtailed by caution around the court rulings on Trump's "reciprocal tariffs."
The S&P 500 moved up thanks to strong moves in chipmaker Nvidia. The broad-based index ended the day higher by 0.4% at 5,912.17 despite climbing as much as 0.9%.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.39% to 19,175.87, also well off its highest intraday gain of 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 117.03 points, or 0.28%, to finish at 42,215.73.
— CNBC's Alex Harring and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
Auto stocks in Asia are feeling the heat of the reinstatement of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Mazda Motor led losses in Japanese automakers, plunging 3.48% as at 2.23 p.m. Singapore time.
Other stocks that logged losses include Nissan Motor which retreated 2.47%, Mitsubishi Motors which fell 2.27% and Honda Motor which was down 1.37%.
Over in South Korea, Kia Corp dropped 3.76% while Hyundai Motor lost 2.72%.
Indian automakers were also trading in negative territory with the Nifty Auto index down 0.99%.
Among the worst performers were Bajaj Auto which fell 2.5%, Ashok Leyland which dropped 2.11% and Mahindra and Mahindra which lost 1.46%.
— Amala Balakrishner
Asian tech stocks fell Friday amid increased concerns over the the reinstatement of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs by the appeals court.
In Japan, sharp declines were seen in Lasertec which had plunged 4.19% and Renesas Electronics which retreated 3.98% as at 2.18 p.m. Singapore time.
Losses were also seen in Advantest Corp which dropped 3.89% and SoftBank Group which lost 3.33%.
Over in South Korea, chipmaker SK Hynix had declined 3.77%, while Samsung Electronics moved up 0.71%.
Tech companies in Hong Kong were in the red, with Robosense and Nio leading losses with declines of 5.57% and 5.78% respectively.
Sharp losses were seen in Xpeng which lost 4.79%, BYD which fell 5.58%, Alibaba which lost 4.4% and NetEase which dropped 4.2%. Losses were also seen in Baidu, which was down 3.6%, Tencent which fell 2.49% and Xiaomi which dropped 2.32%.
— Amala Balakrishner
Australia's retail sales fell unexpectedly in April, breaking three months of gains, on the back of a decline in clothing purchases.
The country's retail sales fell 0.1% from the month before, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Friday, falling short of median estimates of 0.3% growth in a Reuters poll and March's 0.3% growth.
The latest data adds to expectations of further rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
On a year-over-year basis, retail sales rose 3.8% in April, registering A$37.2 billion ($23.9 billion), slower than the 4.3% increase registered in March.
— Amala Balakrishner
Hong Kong stocks fell Friday as markets digested the reinstatement of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, a day after a court ruling blocking them.
The Hang Seng Index was down 1.48% as of 12.34 p.m. local time. Many major Chinese companies are listed on the index, which is up more than 15% since the start of the year. Its losses were led by the technology, consumer cyclical and education services sectors.
Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Hang Seng Tech Index was last seen down 2.55%.
Some of the worst performers on the index include data centre firm GDS Holdings, which plunged 7.51%, Horizon Robotics, which fell 5.94% and BYD Electronic International, which dropped 4.98%.
The Hang Seng Tech Index ETF shows the day's moves:
Hang Seng Tech ETF
— Amala Balakrishner
Spot gold fell Friday as markets took a hit from uncertainties around the U.S. economy and court rulings on U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
As at 12.06 p.m. Singapore time, the precious metal was down 0.71% to $3,292.61 per ounce.
Spot gold
The precious metal — which is a traditional hedge against political and financial instability — gained nearly 1% on Thursday stateside, after a federal appeals court offered Trump a temporary reprieve from a ruling to throw out the bulk of his tariff agenda.
— Amala Balakrishner
Japan's unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.5% in April, from the previous month, government data released Friday showed. This reading is in line with estimates forecasted in a Reuters poll.
There were 126 job openings for every 100 job seekers in April, unchanged from the previous month, which was also in line with Reuters' predictions.
Japan has experienced a tight labor market for over a decade, with the situation becoming more pronounced in recent years due to demographic challenges.
— Amala Balakrishner
Tokyo's core consumer price index, excluding fresh food, rose 3.6% year on year in May, compared with 3.4% in the previous month, according to the Statistics Bureau of Japan on Friday.
The latest reading is the highest level since January 2023, and surpasses the 3.5% forecast by economists polled by Reuters. It was the fastest annual pace of increase since January 2023, when it hit 4.3%, based on data from LSEG.
The rise was partly due to the base effect of last year's sharp drop caused by the launch of school education subsidies and the phase-out of nationwide subsidies to curb utility bills.
Headline consumer price index for Japan's capital in May was at 3.4% year on year, down from 3.5% the month before.
Tokyo inflation data is considered a key indicator of overall growth in prices in Japan. The index which strips away the effects of both fresh food and fuel costs, is closely watched by the Bank of Japan as a broader price trend indicator.
— Amala Balakrishner
South Korea's industrial production output fell 0.9% in April on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the month earlier, data released by Statistics Korea on Friday showed. This follows a 2.9% expansion in March and falls short of the 0.5% growth forecasted in a Reuters poll.
While factory output rose 4.9% year-over-year in April, beating the 4% expected by economists polled by Reuters, it was still lower than the 5.3% reading from the previous month.
Separate data showed a 0.9% month-over-month drop in South Korea's retail sales in April. This is its lowest level since August 2024 and follows a 0.3% drop in the previous month.
— Amala Balakrishner
