Sawt Falasteen - Most Asian markets rise as traders pick over week of headlines

A largely positive week in the region was headed for a healthy finish, and Hong Kong was again the standout performer thanks to the tech sector led by Alibaba following a forecast-topping earnings release.

The yen pulled back a day after rallying past the 150-per-dollar mark following a warning on rising bond yields by Japan's finance minister saw a rethink over bets on how many interest rate hikes the central bank will announce this year.

Traders have been dealing with a series of Trump headlines this week that have made them consider their investment strategies, with his mulling of more tariffs adding to inflation worries.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting, released this week, showed officials concerned that the president's trade wars and pledges to cut taxes, regulations and immigration will force them to pause their rate cutting for now.

The first high-level discussions between Washington and Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine -- without the presence of Europe or Kyiv -- saw the two appoint teams to negotiate an end to the war.

The thawing of US-Russia tensions has led to angry exchanges between Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The developments have rattled market confidence amid questions over Trump's commitments to European security.

The uncertainty has helped push gold to record levels and close to $3,000 for the first time.

Disappointing earnings from retail titan Walmart sparked worries about US consumer activity and the impact on the world's top economy, and weighed on Wall Street with all three main indexes ending in negative territory.

Asia fared a little better, with Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta rising.

But Hong Kong led the pack, soaring more than two percent on the back of an 11 percent surge in Chinese ecommerce titan Alibaba in the wake of forecast-topping sales figures.

The city's market has piled on more than 15 percent in 2025 thanks to a blistering performance in the tech sector in the wake of the unveiling of Chinese startup DeepSeek's chatbot, which has upended the global AI market.

Alibaba is up around 60 percent this year, while Tencent has gained 20 percent and games developer XD Inc more than 30 percent.

Sydney, Seoul and Wellington all retreated.

On currency markets the yen retreated after Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday that rising government bond yields -- which at a 15-year high -- could weigh on economic growth.

The yen was back above 150 to the dollar, having strengthened to below that figure for the first time since December.

That dented expectations the Bank of Japan will announce a series of rate hikes this year, even after data Friday showed Japanese core inflation hit a 19-month high of 3.2 percent in January.

"Kato's remarks had traders rethinking whether the BoJ would really push ahead aggressively or if they might be nudged into a more measured, summer one-and-done approach in 2025," said SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes.

"Most economists expect the next BoJ rate hike to land in the summer, but the market isn't entirely convinced.

"Stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter GDP growth figures, notably hawkish remarks from BoJ board member Hajime Takata, and a hotter CPI have amplified speculation that the tightening cycle could move faster than anticipated."

- Key figures around 0245 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 38,719.34 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.7 percent at 23,177.48

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,374.62

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0488 from $1.0505 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2656 from $1.2668

Dollar/yen: UP at 150.00 from 149.65 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.86 pence from 82.90 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $72.69 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $76.70 per barrel

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 44,176.65 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,662.97 (close)

N.AbuHussein--SF-PST