Sydney Opera House Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Friday, with US stocks ending lower in the first trading session of 2025, dragged down by technology stocks.
The People's Bank of China is reportedly planning to cut interest rates “at the appropriate time” this year The Financial Times reported Quoting statements from the Central Bank. The country's 7-day reverse repo rate It is currently set at 1.5%.
Separately, China's Ministry of Commerce plans to impose export restrictions on some technologies used in manufacturing battery components and processing critical metals such as lithium and gallium, according to a new report. The notice was issued on Thursday.
Investors in Asia will continue to assess political uncertainty in South Korea as the country's corruption watchdog seeks to execute an arrest warrant for ousted President Yeon Suk-yul. According to local media Yonhap News. Yoon's short-lived attempt to implement martial law on December 3 led to political turmoil in the country.
South Korea Cospi index Small cap Kosdaq, +1.03% rose 1.1%.
Australia Standard & Poor's/ASX 200 It rose 0.18% at the open.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index Futures It indicated a lower opening of 19,610, lower than the index's last close of 19,623.32.
Japanese markets remain closed for holiday.
The three major US indices ended the first trading session of the new year lower, continuing to weaken at the end of 2024, suggesting that markets may not see a “Santa Claus spike” this year.
Investors were hoping for “Santa Claus Gathering” Which extends over the last five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of the following January. During this time period, the S&P 500 rose 1.3% on average while finishing higher nearly 80% of the time, Dow Jones market data going back to 1950 showed.
Overnight in the US, blue chips Dow Jones Industrial Average It lost 151.95 points, or 0.36%, to close at 42,392.27 points. Standard & Poor's 500 Down 0.22% to 5,868.55 and heavy on technology Nasdaq Composite It fell 0.16% to 19,280.79.
It marked the fifth straight session in the red for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, their longest losing streak since April. Big technology stocks pressured the market, with Apple stock falling 2.6%, and Tesla stock falling 6% due to lower annual deliveries.
— CNBC's Jesse Pound and Christina Scheider-Burke contributed to this report.
