Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed ahead of Trump's deadline for higher tariffs

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Friday as investors await details on the U.S.' trade deals ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's deadline for higher tariffs next week.

Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark declined 0.13% in choppy trade while the broader Topix index lost 0.22%.

In South Korea, the Kospi index declined by 1.41% while the small-cap Kosdaq dropped by 1.86%.

Mainland China's CSI 300 index added 0.41% in choppy trade, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.62%.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was flat.

Meanwhile, India's benchmark Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex started the day flat.

Overnight stateside, a better-than-expected jobs report eased investors' concerns of a slowdown in the U.S. economy and pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to fresh record highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 344.11 points, or 0.77%, settling at 44,828.53. The S&P 500 added 0.83% to close at 6,279.35, while the Nasdaq gained 1.02% and ended at 20,601.10. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite also closed at records.

U.S. markets are closed on Friday for the Independence Day public holiday.

Alibaba plans to raise $1.53 billion with exchangeable bonds for cloud, commerce push

Alibaba Group is seeking to raise around HK$12 billion ($1.53 billion) through exchangeable bonds to fuel its global cloud infrastructure and commerce push, the Chinese tech giant said in an exchange filing.

The bonds will not pay interest over time, and investors can later exchange them for shares in Alibaba Health, a subsidiary in which Alibaba Group holds approximately 64% of equity interest.

The fundraising plans come after the Group raised $5 billion through a dual-currency bond in November.

This week, Alibaba Cloud revealed new data centers in the Philippines and Malaysia. Its commerce business also reportedly announced a subsidy program totaling 50 billion yuan ($6.4 billion) over the next 12 months.

India regulator bars Jane Street from securities market, freezes $566 million over Nifty 50 manipulation claims

The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred Jane Street Group from accessing India's securities market, according to an order posted on the regulator's website Friday.

The order stated that the U.S.-headquartered trading firm's “entities are restrained from accessing the securities market and are further prohibited from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities, directly or indirectly.”

The regulator also issued an interim order to impound over 48.4 billion Indian rupees ($566.3 million) from Jane Street in alleged illegal gains.

Read the full story here.

Japan household spending rises to near 3-year high

Japan's average household spending surpassed expectations and rose 4.7% year-on-year rise in real terms, government data released Friday showed.

The reading is its highest since August 2022 and exceeded the 1.2% median forecast by economists polled by Reuters.

In quantitative terms, household spending reached 316,085 yen ($2,183.49) in May, while the average monthly household income ticked up 0.4% year on year in real terms to 522,318 yen.

Household spending, which captures consumption trends, are among the key factors monitored by the Bank of Japan in deciding whether to raise interest rates.

Asia-Pacific markets mixed in early trade

Asia-Pacific markets started the day mixed on Friday.

As at 8.15 a.m. Singapore time, Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark was flat while the broader Topix index added 0.11%.

In South Korea, the Kospi index moved down 0.26% while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.65%.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ticked up 0.17%.

Here are the opening calls for the day

Good morning from Singapore.

Asia-Pacific markets were set to mostly climb Friday after trading mixed the day before.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 40,100, while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 40,120, against the index's Thursday close of 39,785.90.

Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 23,991, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI's last close of 24,069.94.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is slated to open higher with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,611 compared to its last close of 8,595.80.