Investing.com - Asian markets opened mixed on Friday following a decline in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite on Thursday due to a drop in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA).
By 12:00 pm AEST (2:00 am GMT) The ASX 200 and KOSPI 200 saw a decrease of 0.1% and 0.8% respectively, while the Nikkei 225 saw a 0.3% increase.
In the US, the S&P 500 saw a 0.3% decrease, after earlier surpassing 5,500 for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite also fell by 0.8%, ending a seven-session streak of record closes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, rose by about 300 points, or 0.8%.
Nvidia, which recently overtook Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) as the most valuable public company globally, saw its shares fall by 3.5% on Thursday. This decline affected the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, as these indexes are weighted by market value, and large companies like Nvidia significantly influence their direction.
Economic data released on Thursday indicated a slowing economy, with housing starts and building permits falling from a month ago, and weekly jobless claims coming in at 238,000, higher than expected.
In individual stocks, Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) and Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) saw an increase, while Accenture (NYSE:ACN)'s stock climbed despite a fall in quarterly net income. Salesforce contributed to the Dow's gains with a 4.3% rise, whereas Trump Media & Technology Group fell by 15%, and Kroger (NYSE:KR)'s stock declined despite better-than-expected adjusted profit and sales.
In commodity markets, Brent crude oil rose by 0.8% to US$85.71 a barrel, while gold was flat at US$2,359.16.
In the bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds rose to 4.01%, while the 10 Year yield also increased to 4.20%. US Treasury notes saw an increase, with the 2 Year yield at 4.74% and the 10 Year yield at 4.26%.
In Asia, Chinese shares ended lower due to the PBOC keeping the country's benchmark lending rates steady. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell, while the Nikkei Stock Average saw a slight increase. India's Sensex closed slightly higher, led by banks.
In Europe, stocks closed higher, with the FTSE 100 Index, the STOXX Europe 600 Index, Germany's DAX, and France's CAC 40 all seeing increases.