MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower Friday while Tokyo’s benchmark spiked by more than 2% after Japanese officials said they had resolved questions over the tariff that will apply to exports to the U.S.
The new U.S. tariffs on Japanese goods that took effect Thursday did not match an agreement between Washington and Tokyo on a 15% level, and Japan’s main trade envoy said the U.S. side had agreed to correct the problem.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 2.2% but later trimmed some of its gains, adding 1.9% to 41,820.48. Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 3.5% and Honda Motor Co. was up 4%. Automakers are among the manufacturers with the most at stake regarding exports to the U.S.
Elsewhere in Asia, most markets slipped following declines on Wall Street.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1% to 24,841.32, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.3% to 3,635.13.
South Korea's Kospi fell 0.6% to 3,210,01. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3% to 8,807.10.
Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.1% and the Sensex in India was down 0.7%.
“We’re heading into a stretch where markets will punish certainty. The momentum winds are shapeshifters—what looks like a slam dunk on Monday can turn into a face plant by Friday,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 edged 0.1% lower and the Dow industrials dipped 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3% to a record as shares in Apple and some computer chip makers soared.
Intel sank 3.1% after Trump called for its CEO to resign, while accusing him of being “highly CONFLICTED,” though he gave no evidence.
But Apple rose 3.2% after its CEO Tim Cook joined Trump at the White House on Wednesday to say it’s increasing its investment in U.S. manufacturing by an additional $100 billion over the next four years.
Computer chip makers with big investments or manufacturing capacity in the U.S. surged higher after Trump ordered 100% tariffs on imported semiconductors but said companies with big U.S. investments would be exempt. Shares in Advanced Micro Devices jumped 5.7% and Nvidia gained 0.8%.
A worse-than-expected report on the U.S. jobs market last week added to worries that President Donald Trump's tariffs are damaging the economy. But hopes for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve and a torrent of stronger-than-expected profit reports from big U.S. companies are helping to offset those concerns.
Lower interest rates can give the economy and investment prices a boost, though the downside is that they can also push inflation higher at a time when tariffs are also pushing prices up.
The Bank of England cut its main interest rate on Thursday in hopes of bolstering the sluggish U.K. economy.
In other dealings on Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed 15 cents to $63.73 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 11 cents to $65.32 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 147.32 Japanese yen from 147.13 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1658 from $1.1667.
Teresa Cerojano, The Associated Press
