Federal Reserve, China Value Outlooks Lift Asian Stock Markets

06:41 AM EDT, 08/22/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets moved mostly higher Friday as traders awaited comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the central bank's Jackson Hole symposium, and weighed relative values on China-exposed exchanges.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo finished in the green, while other regional exchanges were mixed.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 finished up 0.1% as traders weighed the yields on 30-year Japanese government bonds, which reached all-time highs, giving a boost to banks and other financial institutions.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 23.12 to 42,633.29, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 155 to 67.

Leading the upside was consultancy BayCurrent, up 3.4%, while online medical services enterprise M3 declined 4.1%.

In economic news, Japan's headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.1% on the year in July. The widely quoted CPI-core, which strips out fresh foods, also rose 3.1% on the year, reported the Statistics Bureau.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index finished up 0.9% as recent bull moves were sustained in part on analyst commentary regarding relatively low price-earnings ratios of Hong Kong-listed shares.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 234.53 to 25,339.14, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 50 to 30. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.4% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 2.7%.

Leading the upside was Semiconductor Manufacturing International, gaining 10.1%, while computer maker Lenovo declined 2.2%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.4% to 3,825.76, the highest close on the index in 10 years.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.9%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.8%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.6%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.5%, and the Thai Set advanced 0.7%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.9%

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