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Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Friday, as investors weigh remarks from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said federal emergency actions to back up failed regional banks could be used again if necessary.
This conveyed a different message compared to Yellen’s comments a day earlier, when she told senators that the Treasury was not considering any plans to insure all U.S. bank deposits without congressional approval.
The Hang Seng index led losses in the region, trading 0.65% lower, but the Hang Seng Tech index was up 0.61%.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite closed 0.64% down at 3,265.65, but the Shenzhen Component was up 0.25% to end at 11,634.22.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.39% to finish at 2,414.96, but the Kosdaq traded 1.47% higher to end at 824.11.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.13% to close at 27,385.25 and the Topix finished 0.1% lower at 1,955.32.
The country saw its core inflation come in at 3.1% for February, marking the first time in 14 months that the pace of inflation has slowed.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.19% lower, ending the day at 6,955.2.
Overnight in the US, stocks ended higher on Thursday after a volatile trading session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led gains and climbed 1%, while the S&P 500 closed 0.29% higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 73.66 points.
— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim, Tanaya Macheel and Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.
