The Asian stock market saw notable declines on Friday, retreating from record peaks reached in previous sessions, as investors braced for a crucial week ahead that includes U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline and several central bank meetings.
The U.S. dollar strengthened against the yen on Thursday after rebounding from a two-week low, supported by solid U.S. economic data. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen came under pressure due to political uncertainty following media reports that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expected to resign.
Wall Street shares hit new highs
Japan’s Topix index, which had jumped more than 5 percent over the previous two sessions to reach an all-time high, fell 0.88 percent as of 6:10 GMT. Tokyo’s Nikkei index dipped 0.84 percent after recording a one-year high on Thursday.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.83 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.95 percent. China’s CSI 300 Index also fell 0.47 percent, while Australia’s AXJO index was down 0.49 percent.
In the U.S. stock market, S&P 500 futures were up 0.20 percent after reaching a new high in the previous session. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq rose 0.18 percent. Both futures marked new highs, buoyed by robust earnings from Google parent Alphabet.
Alphabet shares rose 0.88 percent today to $193.2. Meanwhile, Tesla shares were up 0.56 percent in after-hours trading, after recording a major fall of 8.20 percent on lower Q2 2025 sales.
In the European stock market, the EURO STOXX 50 was up 0.20 percent, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.23 percent.
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Investors to monitor major market movers
Next week, stock markets face a busy calendar that includes President Trump’s August 1 trade deal deadline, a Federal Reserve policy meeting, the key monthly jobs report, and earnings releases from major tech firms, including Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft.
In Japan, the Bank of Japan is set to announce its policy decision on Thursday, coinciding with a meeting of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party, amid growing political uncertainty.
These events follow the European Central Bank’s decision on Thursday to keep interest rates unchanged, pausing its rate-cutting cycle as it monitors potential fallout from U.S. tariff actions.
In commodities, spot gold was trading lower at around $3,357.82 per ounce. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures gained 0.3 percent to $69.35 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.2 percent to $66.18 per barrel.
