This is CNBC’s live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher Monday, as investors parsed Japan’s fourth-quarter economic growth data, while awaiting a slew of central bank decisions from the region this week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded around the flatline to close at 39,174.25. while the Topix added 0.28% to close at 2,766.9. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.75% to close at 2,610.42 and the small-cap Kosdaq added 1.61% to end the trading day at 768.48.
Japan’s economic expansion in the fourth quarter beat analysts’ expectations for quarter-on-quarter and annualized growth, preliminary government data showed Monday. On an annualized basis, GDP grew 2.8%, exceeding the Reuters estimates of 1%.
The Japanese yen strengthened to trade at 151.5 against the greenback.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.22% to close at 8,537.1.
Tencent shares climbed to the highest level since July 2021, data from LSEG showed, as the company’s Weixin messaging app began beta testing Deepseek integration. Shares of the Chinese tech giant last traded 4.25% higher.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.15%. The Hang Seng Tech Index, which tracks the 30 biggest technology firms listed in Hong Kong, fell .38%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 added 0.21% to close at 3,947.40.
Thailand released fourth-quarter GDP data, which showed its economy grew 3.2% year-on-year, missing Reuters’ expectations of a 3.9% expansion, data from LSEG showed.
The country’s annual GDP growth for the year came in at 2.5%, according to Reuters.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has kickstarted its two-day meeting which could see an interest rate cut on Tuesday. Indonesia and New Zealand’s central banks are also expected to announce their rate decisions on Wednesday.
In the U.S., the three major averages closed mixed Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 165.35 points, or 0.37%, closing at 44,546.08. The S&P 500 ticked down 0.01% to 6,114.63, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.41% to close at 20,026.77.
On a weekly basis, the three major averages logged gains, as sentiment improved following more certainty around U.S. President Donald Trump‘s tariff plans, while new inflation data turned out to be more constructive than first expected. Traders also shrugged off data on Friday showing a 0.9% slump in retail sales for January, worse than the 0.2% decline anticipated by Dow Jones.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.
Thailand stocks fall to lowest in over four years after GDP data
Shares of Thailand’s SET Index fell 1.86%, hitting its lowest level since November 2020, after Thailand released its fourth-quarter GDP data which showed that the country’s economy grew 3.2% year-on-year.
The figure missed Reuters’ expectations of a 3.9% expansion, data from LSEG showed.
The Thai baht last traded at 33.67 against the greenback.
—Lee Ying Shan
Chinese tech stocks in the red after China’s Xi speaks to entrepreneurs in rare meeting
Shares of China’s technology companies mostly fell after Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at a symposium with prominent entrepreneurs on Monday.
Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma was also among those present at the meeting, according to a clip released by Chinese state media.
The Hang Seng Tech Index, which tracks the 30 biggest technology firms listed in Hong Kong, declined 0.75%.
Shares of Alibaba traded 1.69% lower while JD.com fell 3.56%.
Baidu, which said on Sunday that its search will be fully integrated with DeepSeek, according to a Google translation of the statement in Chinese, was down 7.87%. Tencent, which started testing DeepSeek integration with its Weixin messaging app, rose 3.5%.
— Lee Ying Shan, Anniek Bao
Tencent shares rise to highest since July 2021 after DeepSeek integration with Weixin app
Tencent shares rose Monday as the company’s Weixin messaging app began beta testing Deepseek integration.
“Weixin Search is using the Hunyuan large language model to enrich AI search, and it has recently started beta testing access to DeepSeek,” Tencent said in an emailed statement to CNBC.
Tencent shares climbed 5.22% to the highest level since July 2021, data from LSEG showed. The tech giant’s shares rose over 40% last year.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a symposium on private enterprises in Beijing, according to state media. Reports had earlier suggested the meeting would be attended by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and Tencent’s CEO Pony Ma, amongst other top business figures.
Chinese tech stocks have been on a tear since DeepSeek came into the fore, which caused unease among investors as the introduction of its R1 model sparked concerns about U.S. leadership in the AI industry.
—Dylan Butts, Lee Ying Shan
Japan’s 5-year bond yields hit highest level since 2008
Japan’s 5-year government bond yield rose to 1.034%, the highest since October 2008, data from LSEG showed.
This comes after Japan’s GDP in the fourth quarter beat analysts’ expectations.
“On the surface, Japanese GDP growth in the final stretch of 2024 looks like a turning point… But don’t break out the champagne just yet,” Moody’s Analytics wrote in a report after the release of Japan’s GDP data.
“Japan’s preliminary GDP figures are notoriously choppy, and sizeable revisions are common,” the note stated.
—Lee Ying Shan
Singapore’s non-oil exports post a steeper-than-expected decline
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports fell 2.1% in January from a year earlier, steeper than Reuters’ expectations of a 1.1% decline.
Exports had dropped 9% in December.
Non-electronics exports decreased in January, while shipments of electronic goods rose, an official statement read.
— Lee Ying Shan
Japan’s economy expands 0.7% in fourth quarter, beating expectations
Japan’s economic expansion in the fourth quarter beat analysts’ expectations for quarter-on-quarter and annualized growth, preliminary government data showed Monday.
GDP grew 0.7% quarter on quarter, more than the 0.3% rise expected by economists polled by Reuters. It had expanded by a revised 0.4% in the previous quarter.
On an annualized basis, GDP grew 2.8%, exceeding Reuters estimate of 1%.
Read the full story here.
— Lim Hui Jie
Stocks are little changed Friday, but end the week higher
The S&P 500 ended the session little changed on Friday.
The S&P 500 edged lower by 0.01% to end at 6,114.63, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.41% to 20,026.77. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 165.35 points, or 0.37%, to close at 44,546.08.
— Pia Singh
