A view of the night scenery in Shanghai, China
This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia markets were mixed Friday as Wall Street fell after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated the central bank was in no rush to cut rates, with investors also assessing China and Japan economic data.
Speaking in Dallas, Powell pointed out that strong U.S. economic growth will allow policymakers to take their time in deciding how far and how fast they should lower interest rates.
In Asia, investors assessed key economic data from China on Friday, which included October numbers for retail sales, industrial production and urban unemployment.
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China's retail sales rose more than expected in October, while industrial production and investment data missed forecasts.
The unemployment rate in cities fell to 5% in October, down from 5.1% in September.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.62%, while mainland China's CSI 300 fell 0.2% after the data release.
Money Report
Separately, Japan on Friday reported its third-quarter GDP expanded 0.3% year-on-year, snapping two straight quarters of year-on-year declines. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP rose 0.2%, in line with Reuters poll estimates.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.76% after the GDP announcement, while the broad-based Topix rose 0.8% higher. The yen weakened 0.2% against the U.S. dollar to 156.47.
In contrast, South Korea's Kospi was 0.45% lower, and the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.97%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.42%.
Overnight in the U.S., all three indexes fell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.47%.
The S&P 500 fell 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 0.64%.
So-called "Trump trades" also lost steam as the market rally cooled. Tesla tumbled 5.8%, while the small-cap benchmark Russell 2000 dropped more than 1%, underperforming the major averages.
— CNBC's Brian Evans and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
Hyundai appoints Jose Munoz as next president and CEO
South Korean automaker Hyundai has named Jose Munoz as its next president and CEO, effective Jan. 1.
Munoz, a native of Spain and a U.S. citizen, will be the first non-Korean CEO of the company, succeeding current President and CEO Jaehoon Chang.
Munoz currently serves as global chief operating officer of Hyundai as well as president and CEO of the North American operations of Hyundai and its luxury Genesis brand.
Shares of Hyundai were trading up 1.99% on Friday.
Read the full story here.
— Michael Wayland
Indonesia October trade data sharply beat expectations, surplus shrinks
Indonesia's trade data for October sharply grew year-on-year, with exports and imports both beating expectations from economists polled by Reuters.
The country's exports surged 10.25% year-on-year, compared with the 3.84% forecast. Imports also rose 17.49%, against the Reuters expectations of a 4.1% climb.
Indonesia's trade surplus came in at $2.48 billion, down from the $3.26 billion seen in September, and also lower than the $3.05 billion forecast.
— Lim Hui Jie
China's October retail sales beat expectations, but other economic data falls short
China's retail sales rose more than expected in October, while industrial production and investment data missed forecasts as the country's real estate slump worsened.
Retail sales grew by 4.8% year-on-year, above the 3.8% forecasted in a Reuters poll, and a pickup from 3.2% growth in September.
However, industrial production rose by 5.3% from a year ago, missing expectations of 5.6% growth.
The unemployment rate in cities ticked lower to 5%, down from 5.1% in September.
Read the full story here.
— Evelyn Cheng
Yen now in a 'dangerous zone,' Keio University's Sayuri Shirai says
The Japanese yen is now in a "dangerous zone," according to Keio University professor Sayuri Shirai. On Friday, the currency weakened to a new four-month low against the U.S. dollar on Friday, trading as much as 156.74 against the greenback.
With the move, the yen is on pace for a fifth straight day of weakening, according to LSEG data, and comes after Japan released its third quarter GDP numbers.
Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia", Shirai said that cost-push inflation was reemerging due to the yen's depreciation, pointing to October's wholesale inflation rate, which reached its highest since July last year at 3.4%.
A hawkish signal from the Bank of Japan was needed to stop the "sharp depreciation" of the currency, Shirai said.
— Lim Hui Jie
Japan's economy expands 0.3% in third quarter, first rise in 2024
Japan's third-quarter real gross domestic product expanded 0.3% year on year, snapping two straight quarters of year-on-year declines.
The GDP reading marked a reversal from the revised 1.1% decline seen in the second quarter. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP rose 0.2%, in line with Reuters poll estimates.
On an annualized basis, the economy expanded 0.9%, beating estimates of a 0.7% expansion. However, this was a sharp decline from the 2.9% rise in the quarter before.
Read the full story here.
— Lim Hui Jie
CNBC Pro: Citi says this Korean stock is a 'unique direct' beneficiary of Nvidia's new AI chip, giving it 40% upside
Citi says a South Korean firm will be a significant beneficiary of Nvidia's next generation of AI chips and expects its stock to rise by more than 40% in the next 12 months.
The Wall Street bank added that the company's AI-related revenue could rise by 90% next year.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the stock here.
— Ganesh Rao
'Postelection exuberance' helped speed up record year for ETFs, State Street's Bartolini says
The U.S. ETF industry set its year-to-date inflow record this week, helped by "postelection exuberance," according to Matt Bartolini, head of Americas ETF research at State Street Global Advisors.
"Heading into the election, ETF flows were already on pace to break records. What happened was the market environment turned and went significantly exuberant. ... All of a sudden, there was a rush of assets into ETFs from a wide range of investors," Bartolini said.
Outside flows into broad index funds, Bartolini also pointed to the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) as a fund that has benefited from the market response to the election. The fund has more than $1.1 billion of net inflows over the past week, according to FactSet.
Bartolini also said that he has Dec. 9 circled as the date for inflows for the U.S. ETF industry to hit $1 trillion this year.
— Jesse Pound
Trump trade stocks extend losses on Thursday
Key stocks that are viewed as pillars of the so-called Trump trade pulled back further on Thursday.
Shares of the Trump Media & Technology Group slipped nearly 8%. Stock in the incoming president's social media company have shed nearly 16% this week.
Stock in Tesla, which saw shares soar in the wake of Donald Trump's election victory last week, moved lower by 4%.
One key component of the Trump trade bucked the trend. The dollar index advanced 0.08% and reached its highest level in over a year earlier on Thursday.
— Brian Evans
Dollar index reaches 1-year high
The dollar index gained 0.3% Thursday at 106.79, its highest level since Nov. 1, 2023.
The greenback also strengthened 0.2% against the yen at 156.25, the strongest level since July 23.
Since President-elect Donald Trump won the election, the dollar has appreciated 2.8% and 2.1% against the yen and the Chinese yuan. The euro and the pound sterling have both weakened 3.6% and 2.8% against the greenback, respectively.
— Hakyung Kim, Gina Francolla
