Stock market today: Asian shares mixed as DeepSeek lifts Chinese tech stocks

Asian shares Friday were mixed, with Chinese technology stocks rising as most other Asian equities declined.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped nearly 0.44% in early trading to 38,893.65. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid just 0.04% to 8,517.20. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.23% to 2,530.79. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.35% to 31,173.35, while the Shanghai Composite was up 1.33% to 3,314.29.

Chinese technology stocks trading in Hong Kong appear poised to enter a bull market after AI models released by DeepSeek sparked renewed interest in China’s technology firms.

Xiaomi’s Hong Kong stock was up 5.67% Friday to trade at 42.85 Hong Kong dollars, while Alibaba stock jumped 1.47% to trade at 100 Hong Kong dollars. Tencent, China’s largest video game firm, jumped 1.90% to 428.40 Hong Kong dollars.

Japan’s Nikkei index may come under greater pressure from a stronger yen, with a sharp beat in January household spending reinforcing expectations for further rate hikes from the Bank of Japan ahead, according to Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.

“Along with both headline and core inflation accelerating over the past two months, the case for further policy responses to curb pricing pressures remains strong,” said Yeap.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.36%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.28% and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.51% on Thursday.

Investors are also bracing for the uncertainty that comes with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. After signing executive orders to levy 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, fears of a global trade war have eased slightly after Trump gave both countries a 30-day reprieves for tariffs, raising hopes that tariffs are likely to be a negotiation tool rather than the Trump administration’s long-term policy.

However, Trump has pressed ahead with 10% tariffs on Chinese goods, while China has retaliated by imposing tariffs on U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas products as well as crude oil, agriculture machinery and large-engine cars. China also launched an antitrust investigation into Google and placed two other firms on its unreliable entity list. In energy trading, benchmark U.S crude added 30 cents to $70.91 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 34 cents to $74.63 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched up to 151.55 Japanese yen from 151.35 yen. The euro cost $1.0379, down from $1.0383.