Asian markets are mostly lower on Friday, with the overnight weak close on Wall Street amid uncertainty about the outlook for the Republican tax reform plan weighing on investor sentiment.
Though some of the markets in the region opened on a firm note, lack of support at higher levels pushed down the key indices into the negative terrain.
The Australian market is down marginally, with bank stocks figuring among the prominent losers. Mining, retail and energy stocks are among the notable gainers.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is down 8.40 points or 0.14 percent at 6002.90. The All Ordinaries index is down 4.8 points or 0.08 percent at 6091.60.
Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia are losing ground.
Monadelphous Group, Retail Food Group, Fairfax Media, Myer Holdings, HT & E, Alumina, Beach Energy and CSR are down 1 to 4 percent.
Cleanaway Waste is rising 4.3 percent. Crown, Transurban Group, Altium, Oz Minerals, Saracen Mineral Holdings, BT Investment Management, Rea Group, National Storage, Fortescue Metals, Mayne Pharma and Caltex Australia are gaining 2 to 4 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie is trading at 0.7671 against the greenback, gaining 0.05 percent.
In Tokyo, the Japanese benchmark Nikkei225 was down 198.45 points or 0.87 percent at 22,496 at the end of the morning session, despite an improvement in business confidence. A stronger yen appears to be hurting sentiment.
KDDI Corp, Rakuten, NTT Docomo, Tosoh Corp., Nippon Telegraph, Tokyo Gas, Mitsui OSK Lines, Sojitz, Credit Saison, Toho Zinc, Softbank, Resona Holdings and Tokyo Tatemono lost 2 to 6 percent.
Tokai Carbon vaulted nearly 14 percent.
Showa Denko KK gained nearly 9 percent. Pioneer Corp., Tokyo Dome, Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Yaskawa Electric, IHI, Nippon Light Metal, Dainippon Screen Manufacturing and Sumco Corp moved up 1 to 5 percent.
In the currency market, the yen is trading at 112.18 a dollar, down 0.19 percent.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia are weak, with their benchmark indices declining by 0.5 to 1 percent, while New Zealand and South Korea are modestly higher
On Wall Street, stocks ended lower on Thursday after an early upside move. While data showing an unexpected increase in retail sales and a drop in jobless claims lifted stocks early on in the session, uncertainty about the outlook for the Republican tax reform plan after Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., indicated his opposition to the legislation currently being negotiated, dragged down the market from higher levels.
The Dow hit a record intraday high, but eventually ended down 76.77 points or 0.3 percent at 24,508.66. The Nasdaq fell 19.27 points or 0.3 percent to 6,856.53 and the S&P 500 slid 10.83 points or 0.4 percent to 2,652.01.
Major European markets too ended on a negative note yesterday. While the German DAX Index dropped by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
by RTT Staff Writer
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