Asian stock markets experienced a positive surge on Friday, with Chinese technology firms leading the charge, overshadowing recent trade tension rhetoric from the U.S. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index soared by an impressive 3.69% to reach 22,620.33, while the Shanghai Composite index also saw a mild boost of 0.43% to 3,346.72. Bucking the regional trend, Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped by 0.79% to 39,149.43, pressured largely by a stronger yen.
The upbeat sentiment across most of Asia was buoyed by the overnight rally in U.S. indices. Hong Kong's market enthusiasm was primarily driven by robust gains in Chinese tech stocks. Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist at IG, noted, There are much tailwinds for risk sentiments with the positive handover in Wall Street, weaker US dollar, and lower Treasury yields.
Chinese technology giants such as Tencent and Xiaomi recorded substantial gains, with their stocks leaping by 7%, while Alibaba and Meituan increased over 6%. The resurgence in investor interest is largely credited to the innovative breakthroughs by Chinese AI companies. Notably, DeepSeek, a leading AI firm, unveiled a model capable of competing with top global entities like OpenAI, yet optimized for more cost-effective hardware solutions.
This burgeoning interest in AI advancements is reflective of a broader strategic policy by Beijing to prioritize AI across its economic landscape. Such policies have propelled companies, including Baidu, to accelerate their technological offerings, such as making its Ernie Bot AI chatbot widely available. Stephen Innes, a managing partner at SPI Asset Management, commented on this trend: With Beijing doubling down on AI as a national priority, investors are rushing to reprice China’s tech and innovation potential. This is no longer just a stimulus-driven bounce—it’s a paradigm shift.
In addition to Asian market dynamics, European stocks showed mixed signals early Friday. France's CAC 40 gained 0.3%, however, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE 100 both faced slight declines.
Meanwhile, U.S. markets continued their upward trajectory on Thursday. The S&P 500 advanced by 1%, closely matching its record peak from the previous month. Similarly, the Dow Jones climbed by 342 points (or 0.8%), and the Nasdaq composite appreciated by 1.5%. This was attributed to a delay in implementing reciprocal tariffs by Washington officials.
On the commodities front, energy markets witnessed a slight uptick, with benchmark U.S. crude gaining 15 cents to hit $71.44 a barrel and Brent crude increasing by 38 cents to $75.40 a barrel.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar softened against the yen, trading from 152.82 to 152.58 yen, while the euro demonstrated modest strength, costing $1.0481, edging up from $1.0466.
