06:42 AM EDT, 07/25/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets slumped Friday, as traders booked gains after mid-week rallies on trade news, and awaited earnings season.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the red, as did most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower and declined thereafter, finishing off 0.9% as traders booked profits after the benchmark index rose a combined 5.1% in the previous two trading sessions, following the announcement of a Tokyo-Washington trade deal.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 370.11 to 41,456.23, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 169 to 54.

Leading the upside was Mitsui Mining & Smelting, up 3.5%, while Shin-Etsu Chemical declined 9.5%.

In economic news, Tokyo's widely quoted consumer price index-core (CPI-core), that strips out fresh food prices, rose 2.9% on year in July, after a 3.1% on year gain in June, reported the Statistics Bureau.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and could not recover, finishing off 1.1% as traders awaited clarity ahead of China-US trade talks slated for next week.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 278.83 to 25,388.35, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 63 to 20. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1.1% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.4%.

Leading the upside was Wuxi Biologics, gaining 5.5%, while online services outfit Kuaishou Technology declined 4.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% to 3,593.66.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.2%; the Taiwan TWSE was flat; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.5%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.3%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.9%.

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