FX.co ★ Asian Shares Decline In Thin Holiday Trade

On Thursday, Asian stocks experienced a decline due to limited holiday trade, with markets in Australia and New Zealand being closed in observance of Anzac Day. Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, reported better-than-expected earnings, yet their warning of increased expenses due to substantial investment in artificial intelligence this year negatively impacted investor sentiment.

Investors are now attentively awaiting the release of the United States' first-quarter GDP data and earnings reports from several major sectors, particularly from tech giants such as Intel, Microsoft, and Alphabet, for further direction.

There was a slight rise in Chinese stocks, with their chief Shanghai Composite index increasing by 0.27 percent to 3,052.90. Similarly, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also rose 0.48 percent to 17,284.54, following reports that global funds are augmenting their allocation to China, buoyed by hopes for economic and earnings recovery.

Conversely, Japanese markets experienced a decline as the yen weakened beyond 155 per dollar for the first time in over thirty years. This sparked conjecture about potential intervention from the Bank of Japan to support the faltering currency. The Nikkei average dropped 2.16 percent to 37,628.48 following a three-day rally, while the wider Topix index fell 1.74 percent to 2,663.53 as the Bank of Japan commenced its two-day policy meeting.

Tech stocks and exporters witnessed a fall, with major companies like SoftBank Group, Advantest, Tokyo Electron, and Toyota Motor decreasing by 2-3 percent. Canon, the camera manufacturer, fell by 8.4 percent due to a decrease in first-quarter operating profit, and robot manufacturer Fanuc dropped by 3.4 percent following its profit forecast, which fell below anticipations.

Seoul stocks took a significant hit, seeing the Kospi average closing down by 1.76 percent at 2,628.62. Despite returning to profit in the year's first quarter due to increasing global demand for premium memory chip products used for AI computing, Nvidia supplier SK Hynix saw a steep fall of 5.1 percent. Earlier-data showed that the South Korean economy grew robustly in the first quarter due to strong exports, marking its fastest pace in over two years.

The performance of U.S. stocks was mixed overnight as investors awaited information from upcoming inflation and GDP data as well as results from top tech companies. New orders for vital U.S.-manufactured capital goods increased moderately in March, but data from the previous month was revised to indicate weaker business equipment spending in the first quarter. Minor changes were observed in the performance of the Dow, the S&P500, and Nasdaq Composite, which edged down 0.1 percent, remained flat with a slightly positive bias, and eked out 0.1 percent, respectively.