Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.65%

Investing.com-- Latin American oil and gas producer GeoPark Ltd (NYSE:GPRK) said on Thursday it had agreed to buy Frontera Energy's (TSX:FEC) Colombian exploration and production assets in a cash deal.

GeoPark will acquire 100% of Frontera Petroleum International Holdings, which holds oil and gas assets in Colombia, for $375 million in cash, plus an additional $25 million tied to development milestones.

The transaction excludes Frontera Energy’s infrastructure assets and its exploration interests in Guyana.

The deal, which has an effective date of Jan. 1, 2026, is expected to double GeoPark’s production and reserves, creating a leading independent upstream platform across Colombia and Argentina.

GeoPark said it would become the largest private oil producer in Colombia following the acquisition.

The company will also assume about $310 million of Frontera’s unsecured notes and $79 million in outstanding prepayment facilities, implying an enterprise value of around $600 million for the assets.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and will be funded through cash on hand and committed financing, with no equity issuance planned.

Investing.com-- Most Asian stock markets fell on Friday, led by declines in technology shares, after a weak finish on Wall Street overnight dented risk appetite, while investors weighed Tokyo inflation data that kept expectations for further Bank of Japan policy tightening in focus.

Several regional markets, which have posted strong gains so far in January, pulled back from record or multi-year highs amid profit-taking, with Chinese shares leading declines.

In the U.S., Wall Street closed lower overnight, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq under pressure as Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares plunged roughly 10% amid investor concern that heavy AI spending may not deliver commensurate returns, while its cloud growth lagged expectations.

U.S. stock index futures also declined modestly during Asian hours.

China, HK shares lead losses; KOPI gains

Back in Asia, Chinese shares led losses. The blue-chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and the Shanghai Composite slipped over 1% each.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slumped nearly 2%, with the Hang Seng TECH sub-index declining similarly. Hong Kong shares were set to jump over 7% for January.

Singapore's Straits Times Index edged down 0.2% after hitting a record high earlier in the session. The index was set for a 6% monthly rise.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.6%, but was on track to gain 2% this month.

Futures for India's Nifty 50 index inched 0.3% lower.

In contrast, South Korean shares rose, bucking the broader regional trend. The KOSPI gained 0.5% on strong performances in heavyweight chipmakers, with SK Hynix (KS:000660) and Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) extending gains after stellar earnings results reported a day earlier.

The KOSPI index was set for stellar gains of nearly 25% for January.

Tokyo inflation cools, core measure still above BOJ target

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.4%, while the broader TOPIX index fell 0.3%.

The Nikkei was set to rise over 5% in January, with some gains tempered by a stronger yen.

Tokyo’s consumer price data on Friday showed inflation in the Japanese capital easing to its lowest level in about four years, highlighting cooling price pressures while keeping the Bank of Japan’s policy outlook in focus.

The core measure, which excludes fresh food and is closely watched by the BOJ, also eased from the previous month but remained slightly above the central bank’s 2% target, indicating that underlying inflation has not fully faded.

The data still kept expectations of near-term BOJ tightening alive.

Investing.com -- Australia’s Nine Entertainment (ASX:NEC) announced a A$850 million ($597.7 million) acquisition of outdoor advertiser QMS Media on Friday, accelerating its pivot toward digital media while also exiting broadcast radio.

The company’s shares jumped as much as 5.5% to A$1.14, marking their biggest one-day gain since September 12. The stock outperformed the broader ASX 200 index, which rose just 0.5%.

The deal with Quadrant Private Equity advances Nine’s target to increase digital assets to over 60% of revenue by fiscal 2027, up from approximately 45% in 2025, as traditional media companies shift toward online advertising spending.

Nine Entertainment, which publishes The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Age, and owns the Nine Network, also announced it will sell its broadcast radio division to the Laundy Family Office for A$56 million. The radio assets include Sydney’s 2GB and Melbourne’s 3AW.

Billionaire pub baron Arthur Laundy, whose family controls Australia’s largest privately owned hotel group, is purchasing the radio assets despite having no previous media holdings.

This radio divestment represents Nine’s second major asset sale in about a year, following its August sale of a 60% stake in property listings platform Domain to U.S. real estate group CoStar.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- Australian lithium producer PLS Group (ASX:PLS) is considering restarting its Ngungaju plant in Western Australia after reporting a 73% surge in December-quarter revenue, driven by improving lithium prices.

The company, formerly known as Pilbara Minerals, posted second-quarter revenue of A$373 million ($262.89 million), up from A$216 million a year earlier. PLS logged average prices of $1,161 a tonne for its lithium, a 50% increase from the September quarter.

PLS said it could restart the Ngungaju plant within four months, citing strong interest for offtake volumes. The company expects to make a decision in the next quarter.

The improved outlook comes as increased demand for battery storage has brightened prospects for lithium this year, offering hope for a faster recovery for producers who have struggled with an oversupply-driven price slump since late 2022.

PLS produced 208,000 metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate in the December quarter, higher than the 188,200 dry metric tonnes recorded in the same period last year, but below analyst consensus of 212,000 metric tonnes.

The company reported an 8% sequential increase in unit operating costs on a free-on-board basis to A$585 per tonne. While PLS expects cost pressures to continue through the remainder of the year due to the wet season, it maintained that full-year unit operating costs would remain within the guided range.

The lithium producer kept its full-year forecast unchanged across all metrics.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures edged down on Thursday evening after Wall Street closed largely lower, as disappointing earnings from Microsoft stirred fresh concerns about the payoff from hefty AI investments, while investors digested a barrage of other corporate results.

S&P 500 Futures inched 0.3% lower to 6,975.0 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.3% to 25,916.75 points by 19:36 ET (00:36 GMT). Dow Jones Futures also eased 0.3% to 49,049.0 points.

Wall St slips as Microsoft slump weighs; Apple results in focus

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite ended Thursday’s regular session under pressure, with the technology sector among the worst performers.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares slumped 10% after the software giant’s quarterly results underscored slower growth in cloud revenue and record-high spending on AI initiatives that failed to ease investor concerns about near-term returns.

The drop in Microsoft weighed on broader tech sentiment, with other software stocks such as ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW) and SAP (NYSE:SAP) also falling sharply after their earnings and outlooks disappointed traders.

Wall Street was also watching Apple Inc's (NASDAQ:AAPL) quarterly results reported after the bell, which showed better-than-expected revenue and profit driven by strong iPhone demand and a rebound in Greater China.

Apple posted around $143.8 billion in revenue and earnings per share well ahead of consensus forecasts, prompting shares to rise nealry 1% in extended trading.

SanDisk surges after profit beat; Trump endorses spending deal

Elsewhere in earnings, SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) shares surged 16% in extended trading after the storage-chip maker delivered a significant profit beat and raised guidance, as demand for data-center and AI-related memory products outpaced forecasts.

In contrast, Visa (NYSE:V) stock dipped modestly despite beating first-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, as some investors reacted to a shortfall in total transactions processed and persistent caution around broader consumer spending trends.

On the political front, President Donald Trump publicly endorsed a bipartisan spending deal negotiated by Senate Republicans and Democrats that would avert a looming government shutdown, posting support on Truth Social and urging cooperation.

The compromise would fund most federal agencies while leaving contentious immigration issues for further negotiation.