Asian Equities Edge Up At Open, Dollar Declines: Markets Wrap

Asian stocks edged up at the open Friday, poised for a fifth consecutive day of gains, as technology shares lifted Japanese equities.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5%, helped by a 1.3% rise in the Nikkei-225 index. Sony Group Corp. and Softbank Group Corp. led the gains after reporting earnings. Contracts for US stocks edged higher. Treasuries were little changed while oil headed for a 5% weekly slump.

The dollar slipped for a sixth consecutive session Friday, poised for its longest losing streak since March 2024. The yen pared gains as Japan’s chief trade negotiator said the US agreed to end so-called stacking on universal tariffs and cut car levies at the same time. 

Asian shares are poised for their best week since June amid speculation of an interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Investors have also grown optimistic about corporate earnings, which has helped the S&P 500 advance 30% from the lows in April, when President Donald Trump announced his tariff blitz.

Meanwhile, Trump signaled new sanctions on Russia could land as early as Friday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also added that China levies “could be on the table” over the buying of Russian oil.

The gains in Asia came after the S&P 500 closed Thursday little changed, halting a rally that drove stocks to the brink of a record. 

Whether or not the blistering rally in American equities is about to cool, some big firms have warned clients to prepare for a near-term pullback amid sky-high valuations. Added to bulls’ worries is seasonality. August and September have historically been the two worst months for the S&P 500.

“We talk about the potential for ‘air pockets’ in this current environment based primarily on headline risk, which remains elevated in our view,” said Dan Wantrobski at Janney Montgomery Scott. “This renders them vulnerable to pullbacks as we enter the second half of 2025.”

Australian bonds slipped, tracking Treasuries after Thursday’s $25 billion bond sale followed poor results for three- and 10-year debt auctions this week.

On the economic front, US continuing jobless claims surged to the highest since November 2021, adding to recent signs that the labor market is weakening.

Meantime, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller is emerging as a top candidate to serve as the central bank’s chair among President Trump’s advisers as they look for a replacement for Jerome Powell, according to people familiar with the matter.

Trump said he had chosen Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to serve as a Fed governor. The US president said that Miran, who will need to be confirmed by the Senate, would only serve the expiring term of Adriana Kugler, which expires in January.

“Depending on the president’s perception of his performance, he may also be a contender to replace Chair Powell when his term ends in May,” Joseph Capurso, head of international economics at Commonwealth Bank of Australia wrote in a note to clients. “While we expect Miran to advocate for lower interest rates, we do not consider he will push the FOMC to cut the Funds rate if the data does not support a cut.”

• General Motors Co. plans to purchase electric-vehicle batteries from China to power its upcoming entry-level EV until it can procure US-made batteries through its partnership with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution.

• Tesla Inc. is disbanding its Dojo supercomputer team and its leader will depart the company, upending the automaker’s effort to develop in-house chips for driverless technology.

• OpenAI is rolling out a more powerful and long-awaited new artificial intelligence model called GPT-5, vying to stay ahead of increased competition from rivals in the US and China.

• Trump urged the chief executive officer of Intel Corp. to resign over what he called conflicts of interest.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% as of 9:30 a.m. Tokyo time

• Hang Seng futures fell 0.6%

• Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) rose 1.6%

• Japan’s Topix rose 1.1%

• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2%

• Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.4%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

• The euro was little changed at $1.1670

• The Japanese yen was little changed at 147.12 per dollar

• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1805 per dollar

• The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6520

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 0.1% to $117,110.45

• Ether rose 0.5% to $3,895.89

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.24%

• Japan’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 1.495%

• Australia’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.25%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed

• Spot gold fell 0.1% to $3,391.74 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.