Asian equity markets lost ground on Friday, stepping back from the weeks peaks after a string of developments in the technology sector and currency markets introduced fresh downside risks.
Investors were taken aback by aggressive price increases from Apple for iPads and MacBooks, a move the company said was driven by sharply higher memory and storage chip costs. Apple's shares slid 6.1%, erasing roughly $250 billion in market value and tempering enthusiasm that had been building around strong semiconductor results earlier in the week.
Micron Technologys robust report and subsequent share rally did little to offset the broader tech weakness. Micron rose almost 16% to a record high, highlighting where profit growth is concentrated in the tech supply chain even as some hardware makers signal mounting input-cost pressure.
Microsoft also announced price increases for its Xbox gaming consoles, of up to $150 worldwide, reinforcing the sense that higher component prices are filtering through into consumer electronics. Nasdaq futures in Asia declined 0.6% as markets reacted to those developments.
Commodity and geopolitical developments provided a mixed backdrop. Brent crude futures eased 0.5% to $74.89 a barrel after a 2% rebound from four-month lows overnight, following reports that a ship was attacked while exiting the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran issued warnings to vessels about transiting unapproved routes, though reports that some stranded tankers were able to transit the waterway with military escorts helped ease immediate supply fears.
Currency markets featured intense focus on the Japanese yen, which lingered near its weakest point in four decades at 161.82 to the dollar. That level sits well beyond the 160 mark many market participants regard as a key threshold for potential action by Japanese authorities. The yen remained weak even after U.S. inflation data came in line with forecasts and traders pared back bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike in September.
U.S. economic data released separately showed first-quarter growth was revised higher, driven in part by a downward revision to imports, while consumer spending was reported to have almost stalled. Those reports left Treasury yields relatively unchanged on Friday: two-year yields held at 4.1250% after easing slightly the previous session, and 10-year yields traded around 4.4020%, having dipped to a nearly two-month low in the prior session.
Market breadth and flows
Analysts flagged that month-end and quarter-end rebalancing flows probably contributed to the volatile moves, notably in big tech names that had outperformed much of the second quarter. MSCIs gauge of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.7% on Friday, extending the weeks loss to 3.4% after having hit a record high earlier in the week.
Regional index moves were pronounced. Japans Nikkei tumbled 3% and looked set for a weekly drop of about 1.3% despite a 6% gain for the month and a 38% surge for the quarter. South Koreas KOSPI dropped 3.5%, was down 5% for the week, but had climbed around 70% in the second quarter. Chinese blue-chips retreated about 1%, while Hong Kongs Hang Seng lost 1.3%.
Investor commentary
Financial advisory firm deVere Groups chief executive Nigel Green summarized the juxtaposition: "Micron tells us where the profits are. Apple tells us where the inflation is." He added that intense investment in building AI infrastructure has pushed demand for advanced memory ahead of supply, and that Apples price increases are an early sign the resulting component-cost inflation is being passed to consumers.
Other market moves
The dollar index, measuring the greenbacks value against six major peers, held around 101.46, not far from its strongest point since May 2025, and had risen about 2.6% for the month. Precious metals have suffered sharp declines this month, with spot gold reported down 11% to $4,020 an ounce and spot silver down 24% to $57.3 an ounce.
Implications for investors
The mix of stronger-than-expected memory demand in parts of the chip sector and visible price pressure in consumer electronics underscores divergent forces within technology: pockets of outsized profitability among component suppliers versus margin pressure and price pass-through from hardware vendors. Against that backdrop, rebalancing flows at quarter-end amplified movements in high-beta technology equities and regional indices.
For now, currency developments - notably the yens proximity to levels that invite policy reaction - and geopolitical noise around maritime routes remain additional sources of market uncertainty.