Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday after an inflation-fueled selloff in the previous session, with investor assessing economic data from Singapore and South Korea.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index led losses in the region, tumbling about 2%, while mainland China's CSI 300 fell 0.81% to close at 3,475.84.
The losses come as China's exports for March fell more than expected, declining 7.5% compared to the 2.3% fall expected by economists polled by Reuters. This follows a weaker-than-expected rise in the country's inflation on Thursday.
Singapore's first-quarter gross domestic product climbed 2.7% year on year, advance estimates showed, faster than the 2.2% growth recorded in the last quarter of 2023.
The city-state's central bank held its monetary policy steady, leaving the width and level of its policy band unchanged. In contrast to other countries, Singapore uses exchange rate settings for its monetary policy, instead of a benchmark interest rate.
South Korea's March unemployment rate rose to 2.8%. The country's benchmark Kospi index slid 0.93% and ended at 2,681.82, but the small-cap Kosdaq gained 0.28% and closed at 860.47 after South Korea's central bank kept policy rates unchanged at 3.5%, a 15-year high.
Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.21% to 39,523.55, while the broad-based Topix rose 0.46% and ended at 2,759,64. The yen continued to weaken against the dollar, hitting as low as 153.29.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.33% to extend losses from Thursday and end at 7,788.1.
Overnight in the U.S., tech shares pulled both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite into positive territory, with both indexes gaining 0.74% and 1.68%, respectively.
On the other hand, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2.43 points, or 0.01%.
Nvidia jumped 4.1%, while Amazon added 1.7% to hit an all-time high in the session, and Alphabet gained more than 2%.
Apple popped 4.3% after Bloomberg News reported that the company would transition its Mac product line to artificial intelligence-focused chips. The iPhone maker registered its best day since May 2023.
— CNBC's Hakyung Kim and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.