The Tokyo Stock Exchange moved into the green on Friday morning driven by a strengthening of the dollar against the yen while the Chinese markets oscillated after the publication of the weakest growth in China for more than a year. The flagship Nikkei index of the Japanese market gained 0.34% to 39,042.70 points around 00:40 GMT. The broader Topix index rose at the same time by 0.35% to 2,697.32 points.
“Japanese markets are expected to start higher today on the back of rising U.S. stocks and a weakening yen” benefiting Japanese export values, commented Kosuke Oka in a Monex Securities note. The Japanese currency fell overnight from Thursday to Friday below the psychological bar of 150 yen to the dollar for the first time since the beginning of August, while operators are betting less and less on further monetary easing immediately in the States. -United.
The weakest growth since the start of 2023
The Japanese markets, which had fallen the day before amid fears about the growth dynamics of the semiconductor sector, after the Dutch ASML had lowered its outlook for 2025, were also reassured by the publication of the giant’s solid results. Taiwanese TSMC. The Japanese Disco, a manufacturer of precision tools for the production of chips, gained 2.07% after its optimistic financial forecasts formulated the day before. “The pessimistic view of the semiconductor market appears to have eased for now, but it is likely that the global trend of export restrictions on advanced semiconductors will continue”tempered Takuma Ikemoto, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Lab.
In China, the markets on Friday digested the publication of the weakest quarterly growth in a year and a half, despite all-out efforts by the government to stabilize an economy weighed down by sluggish consumption and a real estate crisis. The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics announced that gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.6% in the third quarter year-on-year, beyond the expectations of experts interviewed by AFP. But it is less than the 4.7% in the April-June period and the weakest growth since the start of 2023.
Oil on the rise
Around 02:30 GMT, the Shanghai composite index gained 0.85% to 3,197.51 points, while that of Shenzhen gained 1.57% to 1,842.37 points.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index nibbled 0.09% to 20,096.41 points.
Oil prices were rising on Friday morning in Asia, after experiencing a slight technical rebound the day before in a market preoccupied by demand deemed insufficient. Around 00:25 GMT, a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in December gained 0.21% to $70.82. The American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) with maturity in November gained 0.15%, to $74.56.
On the foreign exchange market, the yen recovered a little after the sharp rise in the greenback, to 150.05 yen per dollar around 00:40 GMT, compared to 150.21 yen on Thursday at 9:00 p.m. GMT.
