Japan's Nikkei 225 closed higher on Friday, capping a first half in which it and South Korea's Kospi soared. Hong Kong's Hang Seng went the other way, weighed down by its biggest Chinese technology names.
The Nikkei 225 gained 695 points, or 1.01%, on Friday to finish at 69,428 points. Gains were led by Sumco, up 11.10%, Yaskawa Electric 6.99% and Sumitomo Chemical 6.55%.
Memory names powered the first-half rally
That daily gain fit a wider pattern. The Nikkei 225 and South Korea's Kospi jumped 34% and 85% respectively in the first half of the year, as some of the biggest Chinese technology companies lagged their global peers.
The advance leaned on the memory sector. Japan's indices were driven by Kioxia, Softbank and other memory companies, while Samsung and SK Hynix pushed the Kospi in South Korea.
Hong Kong's benchmark moved the other way
The Hang Seng Index tells the opposite story. It retreated by over 10% in the first half as its largest constituents underperformed the market.
Trip.com slumped 42% this year after a weak earnings report and a Beijing anti-competitive investigation. Xiaomi plunged 40% as rising chip and memory prices squeezed its business, and BYD dropped 34% after China scaled back electric-vehicle subsidies.
Lenovo Group bucked the trend within that same index. It emerged as the best performer, jumping 127% this year as demand for servers soared, mirroring gains at rivals Dell and HP.
Sources: TradingView (snippet-based), Invezz
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
