Asian shares mostly advance after Wall Street cruises to more records
[July 18, 2025] By
TERESA CEROJANO
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Friday
after Wall Street rose to records following better-than-expected updates
on the economy and a mixed set of profit reports from big U.S.
companies.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged 0.2% lower to 39,819.11 as traders stayed on
the sidelines ahead of an election for the upper house of parliament on
Sunday that could wipe out the ruling coalition’s upper house majority.
The government reported that core inflation excluding volatile food and
energy prices rose to 3.3% in June from a year earlier, slowing from
3.7% in May but still above the central bank’s 2% target.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 1.3% to 24,805.74, while the Shanghai
Composite index advanced 0.3% to 3,534.48.
Taiwan’s Taiex climbed 1.2%, helped by a 2.2% gain for Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. On Thursday, TSMC reported its net
income soared nearly 61% in the last quarter from a year earlier. The
world's largest contract chip maker said it’s seeing strong demand from
artificial-intelligence and other customers. On Thursday, TSMC’s stock
that trades in the United States rose 3.4%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.4% to 8,757.20, and the Kospi in South
Korea shed 0.1% to 3,188.07. India's Sensex lost 0.7%.
“Asia’s riding the global rally wave, AI fever refuses to break, and
even the Fed is making soothing noises,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset
Management wrote in a commentary. “But underneath all the sunshine is a
market running hot, with volatility on sale and positioning still
cautious.”

On Thursday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to top its all-time high set a
week ago, closing at 6,297.36. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose
0.5% to 44,484.49, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.7% to its own record
set the day before, climbing to 20,885.65.
Trading was calmer than on Wednesday, when President Donald Trump rocked
financial markets by saying he had discussed the “concept” of firing the
chair of the Federal Reserve, though he said he was unlikely to do so.
Such a move could help Wall Street get the lower interest rates
investors love, but would also risk a weakened Fed unable to make the
unpopular moves needed to keep inflation under control.
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Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite
Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate
between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign
exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South
Korea, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 Apart from TSMC, other stocks
involved in AI also climbed. A 1% gain for Nvidia was one of the
strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500.
PepsiCo jumped 7.5% after delivering revenue and profit that topped
Wall Street’s expectations.
Treasury yields were mixed following several better-than-expected
reports on the economy.
One said that shoppers upped their spending at U.S. retailers by
more last month than economists expected. Such spending, along with
a relatively solid jobs market, has helped keep the U.S. economy out
of a recession.
A separate report said that fewer U.S. workers applied for
unemployment benefits last week, which could be a signal of limited
layoffs. A third suggested unexpectedly strong growth in
manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region.
Such solid data could keep the Federal Reserve on pause when it
comes to interest rates. The Fed has been keeping rates steady this
year, after cutting them at the end of last year. The Fed’s chair,
Jerome Powell, has been insisting that he wants to wait for more
data about how Trump’s tariffs will affect the economy and inflation
before the Fed makes its next move.
That’s because while lower interest rates could boost the economy
and prices for investments, they would also give inflation more
fuel. Prices may already be starting to feel the upward effects of
tariffs, based on the latest data. In other dealings on Friday, U.S.
benchmark crude oil rose 55 cents to $66.78 per barrel. Brent crude,
the international standard, also was up 58 cents, at $70.10 per
barrel. The U.S. dollar edged slightly higher to 148.70 Japanese yen
from 148.61 yen. The euro rose to $1.1631 from $1.1596.
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