Asia-Pacific markets rebound after sell-off as investors assess Tokyo CPI, await U.S. inflation data

Asia-Pacific markets rebounded Friday, after Thursday’s sell-off saw some indexes in the region hit their lowest level in months.

The sell-off came as traders rotated out of tech on Wall Street, pushing major U.S. indexes on Wednesday lower, with the S&P and Nasdaq extending their losses by 0.51% and 0.93% respectively on Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.

“There’s a changing of the guard happening on Wall Street. The AI stocks that led on the way up are now leading on the way down,” said Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments, adding that these movements are not uncommon during a bull market “great mini rotation.”

In Asia, traders assessed July inflation data out of Japan’s capital city of Tokyo, which is widely considered a leading indicator of nationwide trends.

Tokyo’s headline inflation slowed slightly to 2.2% in July from 2.3% in May, while its core inflation rate — which strips out prices of fresh food — remained unchanged at 2.2%, in line with expectations.

The so called “core-core” inflation rate, which strips out prices of fresh food and energy and is watched by the Bank of Japan, fell to 1.5% from 1.8%.

The yen will also be closely watched, after it strengthened sharply against the dollar in the past week. The currency is currently trading at 153.56 against the greenback.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.2%, led by healthcare and energy stocks, while the Topix was down 0.36%.

Chipmaker Renesas Electronics fell for a second straight day, plunging over 8% on Friday to lead losses in the index. This brought its share price to its lowest level since April.

Renesas saw a 29% drop in net profit for the first half of the year, with Nikkei reporting that President Hidetoshi Shibata admitted that the firm “misjudged demand for industrial equipment.” Unlike most Japanese companies, Renesas’ financial year starts on Jan. 1.

The sell-off on Thursday resulted in 760 billion yen ($4.9 billion) being wiped off its market capitalization in a single day.

Some Japanese automakers also fell, with Nissan down 4.23% after announcing dismal results for its first quarter ended June 30. Operating profit collapsed over 99% year on year, while net profit tumbled 72.9%.

Separately, Reuters reported that Honda will shutter a factory in China and halt production at another plant, intending to start producing more electric vehicles. Honda shares gained 1.7% on Friday.

South Korea’s Kospi also rose 0.63%, while the small cap Kosdaq gained 0.39%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.87%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 17,084, lower than the HSI’s last close of 17,004.97.

—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Sarah Min contributed to this report.