Asian shares retreat after Alphabet and AI stocks nudge Wall Street to
more records
[July 25, 2025] By
TERESA CEROJANO
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares retreated on Friday after Wall
Street inched to more records as gains for Alphabet and
artificial-intelligence stocks helped offset a steep tumble for EV-maker
Tesla.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9% to 41,456.23 after two days of gains
following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a trade deal that
would place a 15% tax on imports from Japan. That’s lower than the 25%
rate that Trump had earlier said would kick in on Aug. 1.
Data released on Friday showed the inflation rate in Japan’s capital
Tokyo rose 2.9% year-on-year in July, down from 3.1% in June. Japanese
government efforts to moderate inflation are working, though underlying
Tokyo price pressures remain elevated, ING Economics said in a
commentary. It expects the Bank of Japan to hold interest rates steady
at its July 30-31 meeting, but said the central bank would likely raise
its forecast for inflation.
In the Chinese markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.1% to 25,381.85 and
the Shanghai Composite index slid 0.4% to 3,591.79.
Next week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he will meet
with Chinese officials in Stockholm, Sweden, to work toward a deal with
Beijing ahead of a tariff truce that expires on Aug. 12. Trump has said
a China trip “is not too distant” as trade tensions ease.
“One big question for markets is whether the tariff ceasefire is
extended. We expect that an agreement will be attainable, but, in the
interim, markets will watch closely to see if there are adjustments to
current tariff rates in either direction,” ING Economics said.
In South Korea, the Kospi picked up 0.2% to 3,196.05, while Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.5% to 8,666.90.
Taiwan’s Taiex edged less than 0.1% lower, and in India, the Sensex fell
0.8%.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 added 0.1% to its all-time high set the day
before, closing at 6,363.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%
to 44,693.91, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% to a record
21,057.96.
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People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's
Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, July 25, 2025, in Tokyo.
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
 Alphabet climbed 1% after the
company behind Google and YouTube delivered a fatter profit for the
latest quarter than analysts expected. It’s leaning more into
artificial-intelligence technology and said it’s increasing its
budget for AI chips and other investments this year by $10 billion
to $85 billion.
That helped push up other stocks in the AI industry, including a
1.7% rise for Nvidia. The chip company was the strongest single
force lifting the S&P 500 because it’s the largest on Wall Street in
terms of value.
But an 8.2% drop for Tesla kept the market in check. Elon Musk’s
electric-vehicle company reported results for the spring that were
roughly in line with or above analysts’ expectations, and Musk is
trying to highlight Tesla’s moves into AI and robotaxis.
The focus, though, remains on how Musk’s foray into politics is
turning off potential customers, and he said several rough quarters
may be ahead as “we’re in this weird transition period where we’ll
lose a lot of incentives in the U.S.”
Stocks have broadly been rallying for weeks on hopes that President
Donald Trump will reach trade deals with other countries that will
lower his stiff proposed tariffs, along with the risk that they
could cause a recession and drive up inflation.
In other dealings on Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil added 51 cents
to $66.54 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose
48 cents to $68.84 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar was nearly unchanged at 147.01 Japanese yen. The
euro rose to $1.1759 from $1.1748.
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