Asian stocks fall on mixed Japanese cues; Powell’s speech is approaching Investing.com

Investing.com– Most Asian shares were lower on Friday as markets weighed in on dovish comments from the Bank of Japan and mixed Japanese inflation data, focusing squarely on an upcoming address by the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Regional markets got a weak lead from Wall Street as a rebound in Treasury yields and a sharp drop in tech stocks triggered steep losses overnight.

U.S. stock index futures rose in Asian trade, with all eyes on a keynote address from the Jackson Hole Symposium later Friday.

Powell’s address comes amid growing confidence that the Fed will cut interest rates in September. But signs of a rapidly cooling labor market also fueled concerns about a slowing U.S. economy that cooled risk appetite this week.

Japanese stocks are down amid tight BOJ talks, composite CPI

Japan’s indexes and the index fell about 0.2 percent each, both set for an average end of the week, as the recovery from early August losses stalled.

BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda told a parliamentary hearing that he still sees interest rates as very low and that they need to rise further to reach a neutral level. Ueda also reiterated plans to raise interest rates further if inflation remains flat – his comments come after the BOJ raised rates at a meeting in late July.

But Ueda’s comments were somewhat undercut by mixed consumer price index data for July. The reading showed that inflation also rose due to improved consumer spending and higher wages.

But core inflation – which excludes food and energy costs and is a key inflation measure for the BOJ – fell below the bank’s annual target of 2%.

The reading raised some doubts about how much room the BOJ has to keep raising rates.

Japanese markets were rocked by a hawkish BOJ in early August, though they have recovered much of the past week.

Asian shares weak, tech trails Wall St losses

Broader Asian markets were mostly lower and were set for an average weekly performance as the recovery from early August losses stalled.

Technology indexes posted relatively higher losses, tracking losses by their U.S. peers, as the anticipation of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: ) earnings next week also sparked caution.

South Korea’s index fell 0.5 percent, while Hong Kong’s index lost 0.9 percent due to losses in China’s main internet stocks.

Chinese shares remained near six-month lows and indexes moved into a flat-to-low range on Friday. The pair were also headed for a 1% decline this week.

Australia fell 0.3%, while India index futures point to a slightly positive open, although the index is expected to face resistance at the 25,000 level.