19 November 2025, China, Shanghai: Boats sail past downtown Shanghai on the Huangpu River. The tallest building on the skyline is the Shanghai Tower (rear). <\/p>\n
Bernd von Jutrczenka | Picture Alliance | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Defense stocks across Asia climbed Friday as investors continued to monitor ongoing geopolitical tensions, following the U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and President Donald Trump’s renewed push to take over Greenland<\/a>.<\/p>\n Shares of South Korean Hanwha Aerospace surged as much as 11%. Poongsan jumped more than 6% while Korea Aerospace advanced 5%. In Japan, shares of\u00a0Kawasaki Heavy Industries<\/a>\u00a0rose 2.29%, while IHI<\/a> added 2.14%.<\/p>\n Markets in the region traded mixed.<\/p>\n China’s CSI 300 inched 0.1% higher after its December consumer prices rose 0.8%<\/a> from a year earlier, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday. The reading followed a 0.7% climb in November and matched expectations of economists in a Reuters poll. Factory-gate prices dipped 1.9% in December from a year ago, better than the forecast for a 2% decline.<\/p>\n Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index<\/a> was flat.<\/p>\n Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225<\/a> rose 1.24%, while the Topix climbed 0.62%. <\/p>\n Shares of Fast Retailing<\/a> popped more than 7% after the Japanese operator of Uniqlo said quarterly operating profit jumped about one-third<\/a> and it raised its full-year forecast. <\/p>\n The company cited strong global sales that helped offset the impact of U.S. tariffs, adding it remained on track for a fifth straight year of profit growth, supported by stronger sales in China and rapid expansion in North America and Europe.<\/p>\n South Korea’s Kospi added 0.67% and the small-cap Kosdaq was flat.<\/p>\n Australia’s S&P\/ASX 200<\/a> ticked slightly below the flatline. Shares of Rio Tinto<\/a> slid over 5% after the miner announced late Thursday<\/a> it had entered early-stage buyout talks with Glencore<\/a>. A successful merger would create a mining giant valued at nearly $207 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n U.S. equity futures were little changed in early Asian hours ahead of a key December jobs report and a potential U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tariffs. The Supreme Court could issue a ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which could have an impact on trade policy and the nation’s fiscal situation.<\/p>\n Overnight in the U.S., the\u00a0Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a>\u00a0rose while the\u00a0Nasdaq Composite<\/a>\u00a0came under pressure as investors moved away from technology stocks.<\/p>\n