Asia-Pacific markets mostly lower but S Korea's Kospi hits fresh high

Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Friday, after all three major Wall Street indexes declined overnight pressured by a drop in private credit stocks and Iran-US tensions, reports CNBC.
Prospects of a strike on Iran have risen with US President Donald Trump saying that he would take a call on military action against Tehran in the next 10 days.
South Korean market, however, bucked the trend as its benchmark Kospi index touched a record high for a second straight day on Friday, powered by a rally in chip and defense stocks.
Index heavyweight SK Hynix rose 6.15%, while defense giant Hanwha Aerospace jumped 8.09%.
The index closed 2.31% up at 5,808.53.
Traders in Asia assessed Japan's inflation data, with headline inflation for January dipping below the Bank of Japan's 2% target for the first time in 45 months.
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.12% to 56,825.7, dragged by consumer cyclical stocks, while the Topix was 1.13% lower and closed at 3,808.48.
Shares of Sumitomo Pharma, one of the country's largest pharmaceutical companies, were volatile in early trade, climbing as much as 6.81% before plunging. The stock closed 15.6% lower.
Japanese government 10-year bond yield fell 4 basis points.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.98% to close at 26,443.69, dragged by tech stocks. Mainland China's markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended marginally lower at 9,081.4.
Overnight in the US, private credit and software stocks were also under pressure, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding 0.54%, and the broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.28%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.31%.
Meanwhile, European stocks moved higher on Friday after the US Supreme Court ruled against a sizeable chunk of US President Donald Trump's global tariffs.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.7% at 3:25pm in London, moving higher following the Supreme Court's decision by 6-3 to strike down the tariffs policy.
Friday saw more European companies reporting earnings, including Air Liquide, Danone, Sika, Anglo American, and Kingspan Group.