Asian Shares Rise As Beaten Tech Stocks Rebound On Dovish Fed Bets

CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks advanced on Friday despite an overnight fall in U.S. technology stocks. Regional sentiment was underpinned by easing geopolitical risks and fading expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike.The U.S. dollar was on track for its biggest weekly drop in nearly three m…

The U.S. dollar was on track for its biggest weekly drop in nearly three months, while gold rose towards $4,200 an ounce and headed for its first weekly rise in five on easing Fed rate hike bets.

Brent crude futures held steady around $72 a barrel, hovering near levels last seen before the Middle East conflict in late February on signs of improved shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz and progress in U.S.-Iran talks.

China's Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.37 percent to 4,043.64, recovering after two straight sessions of declines as a private survey showed China's services activity eased less than expected in June.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied 1.28 percent to 23,350.03, extending gains from the previous session led by financials and technology stocks.

Japanese markets reversed course to end sharply higher as data showed Japan's services sector returned to growth in June despite rising costs.

The Nikkei average climbed 1.47 percent to 69,744.07 despite the yen edging up against the dollar following Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama's comments that the government will respond appropriately on currency movements.

The broader Topix index ended up 1.24 percent at 4,064.60. Shares of Kioxia Holdings, which is moving into full-scale mass production preparations for its 10th-generation NAND flash memory chips, reversed early losses to close 9.2 percent higher at 83,300 yen.

Seoul stocks soared as semiconductor companies rebounded following recent selloff sparked by concerns over heavy spending on AI infrastructure.

The Kospi index jumped 5.76 percent to 8,088.34 after falling heavily over the previous two sessions. Samsung Electronics surged 8.2 percent and SK Hynix skyrocketed 10.9 percent.

Australian markets rose sharply as a weaker U.S. dollar and lower bond yields on signs of a slowing labor market triggered a powerful recovery in gold and mining stocks.

Investors also cheered data that showed Australian services activity edged back into growth in June.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 surged 1.37 percent to 8,844.40 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 1.31 percent higher at 9,048.30.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index rose 0.27 percent to 13,618.42, erasing losses from the previous two sessions.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mixed as a sell-off continued in the chip sector and weak jobs data prompted traders to trim bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase this month.

Data showed the U.S. economy added 57,000 jobs in June, compared with the 114,000 expected and the downwardly revised 129,000 added in May.

The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.2 percent as more people left the labor force, pushing the participation rate to the lowest level in more than five years.

In other economic news, there was a steep drop in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in May, while applications for jobless aid unexpectedly inched down last week.

The Dow jumped 1.1 percent to notch a record close ahead of the Independence Day holiday, while the S&P 500 ended little changed and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.8 percent.