Asia-Pacific Markets Show Mixed Reactions Amid Economic Concerns

Asia-Pacific markets experienced a rebound on Friday following a significant sell-off the previous day, which saw some indexes reach their lowest levels in months. Notably, Japan's Nikkei 225 index continued its downward trend, marking an eighth consecutive day of losses, closing at 37,667.41, down 0.53%. The decline was led by chipmaker Renesas Electronics, which fell over 5%, reaching its lowest share price since April. Additionally, Japanese automakers faced challenges, with Nissan's shares dropping 3.88% after reporting disappointing first-quarter results. In a separate development, Honda announced plans to close a factory in China and halt production at another site to shift focus towards electric vehicle production. Meanwhile, the "core-core" inflation rate in Japan, which excludes fresh food and energy prices, decreased from 1.8% to 1.5%, a figure closely monitored by the Bank of Japan. The yen's recent strengthening against the dollar is also a point of interest for investors. Taiwan's markets faced a setback, with the Weighted Index falling 3.29% to 22,119.21 as trading resumed after a two-day closure due to a typhoon. In Singapore, the approach to monetary policy differs from most economies, as it relies on exchange rate settings rather than interest rates to manage the strength of the Singapore dollar. In the United States, market trends showed a continued rotation away from technology stocks, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite experiencing losses of 0.51% and 0.93%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a slight increase of 0.2%.