(Bloomberg) — Asian equities fell Friday, pressured by technology companies. US futures climbed after robust results from Apple Inc.
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A gauge of Asian shares snapped a two-day gain, with Korean chipmakers SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. weighing as the nation’s markets reopened after the Lunar New Year holidays. Australian equities outperformed. Markets in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan remained closed.
The regional gauge is still on track for its first rise in four months.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose Friday after the two underlying benchmarks each rose 0.5% Thursday. Gains for US contracts were helped along by a post-market rally for Apple after the iPhone maker showed revenues exceeded estimates.
Earnings for mega-cap tech companies face heightened scrutiny given the heavy selling in stocks associated with artificial intelligence earlier this month. Nvidia shares rose Thursday but remained on track for the worst week since September.
Shares of SK Hynix, a key supplier to Nvidia Corp., tumbled as the South Korean stock market resumed trading Friday after holidays during which Chinese startup DeepSeek shocked the AI world. Samsung Electronics stock dropped after its pivotal chip division reported a smaller-than-expected profit.
Samsung “missed consensus, mainly from the semiconductor division,” said SK Kim, Daiwa Securities executive director and analyst, speaking on Bloomberg Television. “In semiconductors, Samsung has higher exposure to China and they are also supplying the AI chips to Chinese customers.”
In the foreign exchange market, the currencies of Mexico and Canada slumped on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he would follow through on his threat to impose 25% tariffs on imports from both countries as early as Saturday. Trump cited the flow of fentanyl and large trade deficits as among the reasons for the decision. Trump also reiterated possible levies on China.
Elsewhere in currencies, a gauge of the dollar was on track for its best week in the past seven, though still down for the month as investors parse tariff news. The yen held its advance from the prior session to trade around 154 per dollar in the wake of comments from Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino reaffirmed views that the central bank will keep raising rates this year.
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