Asian markets sluggish as Chinese New Year holiday looms

TOKYO: Asian markets were subdued on Monday (Feb 16), as the extended Chinese New Year holiday approached and Japan reported lacklustre economic growth . The holiday period meant that trading floors were closed in Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei. Hong Kong and Singapore closed after half-day sessions. US markets are also closed for Presidents' Day. Limp GPD growth in Japan rattled the post-election high of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi following her recent landslide win . The world's fourth-biggest economy expanded just 0.1 per cent in the last three months of 2025. The figures - which undershot market forecasts of 0.4 per cent - add pressure on Takaichi, who made boosting economic growth a key pledge ahead of her landslide victory in the Feb 8 snap elections. The weak growth "implies that the large supplementary budget passed at the end of November provided no boost to public spending last quarter just yet", Marcel Thieliant at Capital Economics said. "In fact, sluggish economic activity increases the chances that Takaichi will not only press ahead with suspending the sales tax on food but enact a supplementary budget during the first half of the fiscal year that starts in April, rather than wait until the end of this year," he added. Tokyo closed 0.2 per cent down, while Hong Kong rose 0.5 per cent as trading closed early for Chinese New Year. Wellington, Jakarta, Manila and Kuala Lumpur posted marginal losses, while Sydney, Mumbai and Bangkok were up and Singapore was little changed. Markets showed signs of stabilising after a tech-led plunge last week, when traders reacted to growing concern about the hundreds of billions spent on AI infrastructure and when, if ever, they might see a return on them. Investors will keep an eye on artificial intelligence this week as the five-day AI Impact Summit kicks off in New Delhi on Monday, with the likes of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google's Sundar Pichai in attendance. While frenzied demand for generative AI has turbocharged profits and share prices for many technology companies, anxiety is growing over the risks that it poses to society and the environment. The sense of calm continued on from Friday, when government data showed consumer inflation in the United States cooling slightly more than expected in January. Analysts say the figure allows the US central bank to cut interest rates again later this year, but warn that policymakers need to see sustained improvement in order to do so. "US inflation data was good. And the initial response in equities reflected that. But the devil was in the details," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com. "Annual headline and core inflation dropped to new lows, with the critical core number falling to the lowest level since March 2021 at 2.4 per cent." Gold dipped below US$5,000 an ounce, slipping after Friday's climb following softer US inflation. Silver fell 1 per cent. "Markets have priced in a higher probability of deeper Fed rate cuts this year, driving real yields lower and supporting gold demand," Standard Chartered said in a note. "We expect gold to remain well-supported."