Hong Kong (AFP) – Asian markets were subdued on Monday, as the extended Lunar New Year holiday approached and Japan reported lacklustre economic growth. The holiday period meant that trading floors were closed in Shanghai, Seoul, and Taipei. Hong Kong and Singapore closed after half-day sessions. US markets are also closed for Presidents’ Day.
Limp GDP growth in Japan rattled the post-election high of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi following her recent landslide win. The world’s fourth-biggest economy expanded just 0.1 percent in the last three months of 2025. The figures — which undershot market forecasts of 0.4 percent — add pressure on Takaichi, who made boosting economic growth a key pledge ahead of her landslide victory in the February 8 snap election.
The weak growth “implies that the large supplementary budget passed at the end of November provided no boost to public spending last quarter just yet,” Marcel Thieliant at Capital Economics said. “In fact, sluggish economic activity increases the chances that Takaichi will not only press ahead with suspending the sales tax on food but enact a supplementary budget during the first half of the fiscal year that starts in April already rather than wait until the end of this year,” he added.
Tokyo closed 0.2 percent down, while Hong Kong rose 0.5 percent as trading closed early for Lunar New Year. Wellington, Jakarta, and Manila posted marginal losses, while Sydney, Mumbai, and Bangkok were up. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were little changed.
Markets showed signs of stabilising after a tech-led plunge last week, when traders reacted to growing concern about the hundreds of billions spent on AI infrastructure and when, if ever, they might see a return on them. Investors will keep an eye on artificial intelligence this week as the five-day AI Impact Summit kicks off in New Delhi on Monday, with the likes of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google’s Sundar Pichai in attendance.
While frenzied demand for generative AI has turbocharged profits and share prices for many technology companies, anxiety is growing over the risks that it poses to society and the environment. The sense of calm continued on from Friday, when government data showed consumer inflation in the United States cooling slightly more than expected in January. Analysts say the figure allows the US central bank to cut interest rates again later this year, but warn that policymakers need to see sustained improvement in order to do so.
“US inflation data was good. And the initial response in equities reflected that. But the devil was in the details,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com. “Annual headline and core inflation dropped to new lows, with the critical core number falling to the lowest level since March 2021 at 2.4 percent.”
London, Paris, and Frankfurt opened higher. Gold crept above $5,000 an ounce after Friday’s climb following softer US inflation. Silver was down 0.7 percent. “Markets have priced in a higher probability of deeper Fed rate cuts this year, driving real yields lower and supporting gold demand,” Standard Chartered said in a note. “We expect gold to remain well-supported.”
– Key figures at around 0815 GMT –
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 56,806.41 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 26,705.94 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: market closed for holiday
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,459.56
Dollar/yen: UP at 153.35 yen from 152.71 yen on Friday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1869 from $1.1876
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3653 from $1.3654
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.93 pence from 86.96 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN at $62.75 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN at $67.61 per barrel
New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 49,500.93 (close)
© 2024 AFP
