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July 25, 2025 – 00:38

(Bloomberg) — Asian equities were set to fall Friday in a break with gains on Wall Street as investors balanced robust US tech earnings with uncertainty over tariffs and interest rates. Treasuries fell and the dollar strengthened.

Equity index futures for Japan, Australia and Hong Kong all fell in early Asian trading Friday. The S&P 500 inched to a new record Thursday driven by tech gains that papered over a broader weakness as most stocks in the benchmark dropped.

The moves were driven by robust earnings from Alphabet Inc that kept alive expectations the boom in artificial intelligence will continue to the benefit of US tech giants. Nvidia Corp hit a fresh high. US futures opened higher early Friday after Intel Corp gave an upbeat sales forecast.

Below the surface, strong jobs data weakened expectations for imminent Federal Reserve job cuts ahead of the central bank’s meeting next week. Traders slightly pared bets on US cuts, projecting less than two reductions this year, after jobless claims fell for a sixth straight week. Donald Trump said firing Jerome Powell was not “necessary,” following recent speculation.

“There are still few signs of major cracks in the labor market,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. “And if that picture remains intact, the Fed has one less reason to cut interest rates.”

In a sign of investor unease, the Russell 2000 index of US small-cap stocks that is sensitive to changes in economic forecast fell 1.4% Thursday. The US 10-year yield rose two basis points to around 4.4% and the policy-sensitive two-year yield gained four basis points to around 3.9%.

The euro weakened slightly against the dollar Thursday after the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged. ECB President Christine Lagarde said the central bank is in a “wait-and-see” mode given US trade uncertainty.

In Asia, investors will be on the lookout Friday for Tokyo inflation data for Japan, industrial production for Singapore and foreign exchange reserves in Thailand and India. Thai F-16 fighter jets struck military sites in neighboring Cambodia as a dispute between the nations extended.

US Stock Rally

Tesla Inc. sank 8.2% as Elon Musk warned of difficult times ahead. In late hours, Intel Corp. gave an upbeat sales forecast as personal-computer demand picked up.

The S&P 500’s record-setting spree may be stoking concerns about inflated share prices and a revival of meme-stock froth, but JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s trading desk isn’t concerned. Rather, it expects the rally in US equities to keep going.

The world’s investors are enjoying a confidence boost after months of uncertainty as Trump finally started signing trade deals. Earlier this year, rapidly-shifting tariff policies sent global markets spiraling. But risk assets have rebounded as investors saw signs of progress in negotiations.

However, trading desks at firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citadel Securities are telling clients to buy cheap hedges against potential losses in US stocks as a slew of risks loom over the market’s record advance.

In commodities, oil gained as technical support turbocharged a rally, undercutting a US move to restore Chevron Corp.’s ability to pump oil in Venezuela. Gold slipped on bets that the Fed will keep interest-rate policy on hold for now.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% as of 7:30 a.m. Tokyo timeHang Seng futures fell 0.7%S&P/ASX 200 futures fell 0.4%

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changedThe euro was unchanged at $1.1749The Japanese yen was little changed at 147.11 per dollarThe offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1544 per dollarThe Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6591

Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.2% to $118,516.89Ether fell 0.5% to $3,719.63

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.1% to $66.11 a barrelSpot gold was little changed

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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