Asian markets settled mostly down on Thursday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street as an AI-driven rally showed signs of fatigue and expectations of aggressive Fed interest rate cuts faded, while investors awaited more US economic data, including jobless claims and PCE inflation data for directional cues. However, Japanese shares gained after minutes from the Bank of Japan's July meeting showed that some policymakers believed that the BoJ should consider hiking interest rates in the near future. Investors were also awaiting Friday's Tokyo inflation report, which might provide additional direction on the policy outlook. Chinese shares ended flat as US President Donald Trump is expected to sign the TikTok deal later today.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,853.30 | -0.34 | -0.01 |
| Hang Seng | 26,484.68 | -33.97 | -0.13 |
| Jakarta Composite | 8,040.66 | -85.90 | -1.06 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,598.47 | -1.19 | -0.07 |
| Nikkei 225 | 45,754.93 | 124.62 | 0.27 |
| Straits Times | 4,273.86 | -16.54 | -0.39 |
| KOSPI Composite | 3,471.11 | -1.03 | -0.03 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 26,023.85 | -172.88 | -0.66 |
