Kuala Lumpur, 7 August 2026 – Equity benchmarks across the Asia-Pacific region traded within narrow ranges on Friday as institutional investors adopted a cautious posture ahead of crucial U.S. labor market figures. The impending non-farm payrolls release is widely expected to set the tone for the Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate deliberations, while renewed geopolitical friction across critical Middle East shipping channels drove crude prices higher, adding a layer of inflationary risk to Asian trading desks.
Market sentiment reflected a distinct holding pattern across major exchanges. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index outside Japan remained largely flat, locking in a modest 0.4% decline for the week. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 dipped 0.9%, though it maintained a 1.2% weekly gain, buoyed by earlier foreign exchange stabilization. Conversely, South Korea’s KOSPI slipped 0.5%, extending its losing streak to a seventh consecutive week with a 5.0% cumulative drop—a stark contrast to its strong first-half performance driven by tech valuations. Meanwhile, mainland China’s CSI 300 index managed a slight gain of 0.2%, supported by targeted domestic liquidity injections and selective buyer support in state-backed enterprise shares.
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