Investing.com – Most Asian stocks fell on Friday amid uncertainty over U.S. interest rates and the upcoming presidential election, while Chinese stocks gained after data showed the economy was growing as expected.
Technology stocks saw relatively smaller losses, while chipmaker TSMC rose to record highs on stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings.
Regional markets took muted signals after the overnight session on Wall Street, mostly unchanged. While investors were indeed cheered by signs of resilience in the U.S. economy, that enthusiasm was largely undermined by bets on an upcoming smaller rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
US stock index futures remained unchanged in Asian trade.
China stocks rise as GDP meets expectations
China’s indexes and indices each rose about 1.2%, recovering sharply after a negative start to the day. Hong Kong’s index rose 1.6% on gains in local mainland stock exchanges.
showed that, as expected, China’s economy grew 4.6% year-on-year in the third quarter. also accelerated, although still below the government’s annual target of 5%.
Still, Friday’s gains helped Chinese stocks erase most of their weekly losses, putting them on track for feeble weekly results.
Chinese stocks suffered massive losses earlier in the week after Beijing’s signals of more stimulus measures inspired restricted confidence, given that the government continued to leave investors wanting more details on the planned measures.
TSMC Hits Record High in Positive Third Quarter, Chipmakers Delay
Taiwan Stock Exchange TSMC (TW:) (NYSE:) was an outlier on Friday, with the company’s shares rising nearly 6% to a record high.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings and offered an upbeat outlook as it continued to benefit from sturdy demand driven by the artificial intelligence industry.
TSMC is widely considered a leader in the chip manufacturing industry and has seen growing demand from artificial intelligence in the sector.
However, shares of other Asian chipmakers mostly fell on Friday. The sector continued to struggle following feeble guidance earlier this week from chip equipment maker ASML (AS:) Holding (NASDAQ:), as the company said chip demand from non-AI applications was likely to remain feeble .
Asian markets muted, heading for soft weekly losses
Broader Asian markets were trading in a tight range and mostly heading towards soft weekly declines.
Japan and its indexes rose slightly as data showed inflation rose slightly more than expected in September, while core inflation remained solid.
Australia was the worst performer on the day, losing 0.9% as investors locked in gains from a recent record high. South Korea fell 0.4%.
India index futures pointed to a feeble opening as the index fell 25,000 points amid a broad exodus of foreign investors. The disappointing results were also essential.
