Investing.com — Most Asian stocks fell Friday after warnings from a slew of Federal Reserve officials caused investors to reassess expectations of rate cuts, while mixed economic data from China prompted greater caution.
Regional markets took a weak lead from Wall Street as US stock benchmarks closed lower after briefly hitting record highs. US stock index futures are also entering Asian trading.
A series of Fed officials warned that it was too early to call for interest rate cuts by the central bank, and that the Fed needed more confidence to ease policy.
Their comments largely undermined optimism about some softer US data for April, which had investors pricing in a greater likelihood of a rate cut in September.
Some mediocre economic data from China also weighed on sentiment on Friday, although the country’s big tech companies were the only bright spot among Asian stocks.
Chinese markets retreat due to mixed data
China’s fell about 0.2% after a wave of economic data provided a mixed outlook for Asia’s largest economy.
grew more than expected in April, indicating that industrial activity was recovering. But on the other hand, expectations were missed by a wide margin, just like .
Other data showed a continued decline in China’s share price, undermining recent optimism about government efforts to support the embattled real estate sector.
Concerns about the Chinese economy saw Hong Kong’s index lose much of its previous gains, with the index now up 0.2%.
Alibaba.com increases as ‘Big Short’ Burry increases his bet
But shares of Alibaba Group (HK:) (NYSE:) in Hong Kong rose sharply, up 7% at a seven-month high, after an overnight filing showed that an investment firm led by Michael Burry of ‘Big Short’, has increased his stake in the e-commerce giant.
Alibaba’s profits flowed to other big tech companies, including Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:) and JD.com (HK:) (NASDAQ:). Burry also saw his stake in JD increase, which is now his largest position.
Chinese tech major Baidu Inc (HK:) (NASDAQ:) rose almost 4% as it forecast higher demand for artificial intelligence, even as first-quarter earnings disappointed.
Broader Asian shares fell and reversed course after strong gains on Thursday, as markets reassessed the outlook for US yields.
Japan lost 0.4%, while the broader sector rose 0.2%.
Australia’s fell 0.6% as concerns about China weighed on major mining and consumer stocks.
South Korea lost 0.8%, while futures for the Indian index pointed to a weak open.
