Asian Stock Markets Declined on the Last Trading Day

Asian stock markets declined on the last day of the week. Indices in the region were mostly negative on Friday.

Asian stock markets declined on the last trading day of the week. Indices in the Asia Pacific region declined, led by Hong Kong. While Asian stocks lost on the last trading day of the week, South Korea turned to a positive trend. Hong Kong stocks lost value with the news that tightening quarantine measures came to the agenda due to the number of coronavirus cases that gained momentum in the country. Japan stocks, on the other hand, fell slightly. Losses in Japan's consumer price indices in December 2020 deepened as the increase in the number of cases put pressure on the economy. The consumer price index adjusted for fresh food prices declined by 1 percent, deepening the 0.9 percent loss recorded in November with energy costs falling compared to the same period of 2019. Thus, the decline in the consumer price index in the country was recorded as the deepest decline in the last decade.   Index Summaries

• Japan's Topix Index fell 0.2 percent.
• The Hang Seng Index fell 1.4 percent.
• The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.8 percent.
• The South Korean Kospi Index gained 0.4 percent.