Asian Shares Mixed In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday despite Wall Street snapping a four-day losing streak overnight on the back of better-than-expected fourth quarter profits announced by chip maker Nvidia.

Investors awaited the release of the U.S. personal consumption expenditures index, which is a key price gauge for the Fed, later in the day to assess the prospect for further interest-rate hikes from the U.S. central bank.

Gold edged up on dollar weakness while oil prices rose for a second straight session on signs of improving crude demand.

Chinese shares fell notably as Beijing reiterated its calls for a political settlement to the Ukraine conflict. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.62 percent to 3,267.16 while Hong Kog's Hang Seng index fell 1.68 percent to 20,010.04.

Japanese shares rose the most in a month after Bank of Japan governor nominee Kazuo Ueda told lawmakers he favors keeping conditions accommodative to support economic growth.

Investors shrugged off data released earlier in the day showing that Japan's core inflation rate hit a four-decade high of 4.2 percent in January.

The Nikkei average jumped 1.29 percent to 27,453.48 as trading resumed after a national holiday on Thursday. The broader Topix index closed 0.67 percent higher at 1,988.40.

Chip-related stocks surged the most, with Advantest, Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings climbing 5-8 percent.

Seoul stocks ended lower as U.S. rate hike uncertainty weighed on the tech sector. The Kospi average shed 0.63 percent to finish at 2,423.61. Samsung Electronics gave up 1.1 percent, SK Hynix lost 1.8 percent and Naver shed 2.6 percent.

Australian markets snapped a three-day losing streak, with financials, tech and energy stocks leading the surge.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.30 percent to 7,307 but recorded its third consecutive weekly loss. The broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.27 percent higher at 7,512.70.

Logistics firm Brambles soared 7.5 percent after raising its annual earnings outlook. Lithium miner Allkem rallied 3.7 percent after reporting a near eleven-fold jump in first-half profit.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark NZX-50 index edged up 0.15 percent to finish at 11,905.75.

U.S. stocks rebounded from early losses to finish higher overnight, as Nvidia's upbeat outlook helped offset concerns about the trajectory of interest rates.

In economic releases, new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, pointing to a persistently tight labor market, while the U.S. economy grew by slightly less than previously estimated in the fourth quarter of 2022, separate reports showed.

The Dow inched up 0.3 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 gained half a percent.