Asian Shares Mixed With China NPC Meeting In Focus

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday after the Bank of England and the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point.

Focus shifted to stimulus announcements from China later in the day as the meeting in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ends.

The dollar sagged in Asian trading after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank will evaluate data to adjust the "pace and destination" of rates.

Gold prices were notably lower after rising more than 1 percent on Thursday. Oil prices dipped but were on track for a weekly gain.

Chinese and Hong Kong markets ended lower as investors awaited details of a much-anticipated economic stimulus package to rev up the slowing Chinese economy.

China's Shanghai Composite ended down 0.53 percent at 3,452.30 after a choppy session. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.07 percent to 20,728.19, giving up early gains. Japanese markets eked out modest gains as tech stocks followed their U.S. peers higher. The upside was capped by weak household spending data and a relatively stronger yen.

The Nikkei average edged up by 0.30 percent to 39,500.37 while the broader Topix index finished marginally lower at 2,742.15.

AI-focused startup investor SoftBank Group gained 1.6 percent and Tokyo Electron added 0.9 percent.

Nissan Motor shares slumped more than 6 percent as the automaker announced plans to cut 9000 jobs and 20 percent of its global manufacturing capacity after net income plummeted in the first half.

Seoul stocks ended slightly lower on lingering concerns regarding a second presidential term for Donald Trump. The Kospi average slid 0.14 percent to 2,561.15.

Australian markets climbed to over a two-week high, with mining and gold stocks leading the surge. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.84 percent to 8,295.10 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 0.84 percent at 8,552.60.

Lender ANZ rose 1.3 percent despite posting a 9 percent drop in annual profit. Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index jumped 1.50 percent to 12,770.33.

U.S. stocks closed higher overnight while Treasury yields fell alongside the dollar after the Fed delivered a 25-basis point interest-rate cut and signaled no intention to skip cutting rates.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed during his post-meeting press conference that rates are not on "any preset course" and that the central bank will make future decisions "meeting by meeting" to deal with the risks to both sides of the dual mandate.

Investors also prepared for a "Trump 2.0 era" and "America First" economic stance, but there were some concerns about the effect planned tariff increases will have on inflation and interest rates.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.5 percent, and the S&P 500 added 0.7 percent to score the second record finish in a row while the Dow finished marginally lower.