Asian stocks follow Wall Street decline; markets wait for China policy briefing

Asian stocks were mostly lower on Friday as Chinese markets declined as investors await a key briefing about the details of the upcoming stimulus plan this weekend.

U.S. futures and oil prices were lower.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was up 0.6% and closed at 39,605.80. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.1% to 8,214.50.

Chinese stocks fell on Friday trading. The Shanghai Composite lost 2.9% to 3,025.31, and the CSI 300 Index, which tracks the top 300 stocks traded in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, gave up 3.2%.

Hong Kong markets were closed Friday for a public holiday. On Tuesday, the index dropped more than 9%, marking its worst loss since the 2008 global financial crisis.

All market attention was on a briefing China’s Finance Ministry has scheduled for Saturday, where it is expected to unveil long-anticipated fiscal stimulus plans.

Earlier this week, details of economic stimulus plans from Beijing officials disappointed the markets, as many had hoped that the new fiscal policies would follow the steps of the previous announcements made in late September aimed at reviving the struggling property market and boosting economic growth.

Elsewhere, South Korea’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.25% on Friday, signaling a shift to an easing cycle intended to stimulate economic growth. This is the Bank of Korea’s first rate cut since 2020, which comes after a contraction in gross domestic product in the second quarter, along with an inflation rate in September that fell below the central bank’s target of 2%.

The Kospi in Seoul edged 0.1% lower to 2,596.91.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks edged back from earlier records after reports showed inflation was a touch warmer last month than expected and more workers filed for unemployment benefits last week.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 5,780.05, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1% to 42,454.12 after setting an all-time high the day before. The Nasdaq composite edged down by 0.1% to 18,282.05.

Stocks had stormed to records in large part on excitement about easing interest rates, now that the Federal Reserve is cutting them as it widens its focus to include keeping the economy humming instead of just fighting high inflation.

Thursday’s report showed inflation slowing to 2.4% in September from 2.5% in August, according to the consumer price index, but economists were expecting an even sharper slowdown to 2.3%. And after ignoring the swings for food, gasoline and other energy prices, underlying trends that economists say can be a better predictor for where inflation is heading were a touch hotter than expected.

At the same time, a separate report showed 258,000 U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week. That number is relatively low compared with history, but it was a sharper acceleration than economists expected. Hurricane Helene and a strike by workers at Boeing may have helped make the number look worse.

In the bond market, Treasury yields rose immediately after the release of the economic data, only to then swing up and down as traders tried to handicap what it would all mean for the Fed.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.07%, the level it was at late Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, fell to 3.96% from 4.02% late Wednesday.

In other dealings, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 92 cents to $74.93 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, declined $1.04 to $78.36 per barrel.