Reuters
Asian markets were mixed in cautious early trading Friday, after President Donald Trump canceled his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Japan’s Nikkei was off 0.1%, after initially dropping 0.5%, as the dollar pushed above ¥109.50 to session highs from ¥109.30. Commodity-related names were leading the way lower for Japanese stocks as they were poised to notch their first down week in two months. The marine-transportation sector was off 1.6%, the weakest performer in the Topix. Mining was off 1.1% following a sizable drop overnight in oil prices . But that had the airline sector up 1%. Meanwhile, auto stocks were extending Thursday’s sharp selloff, with Honda and Toyota off nearly 1% more.
Hong Kong stocks started modestly weaker, with the Hang Seng Index off 0.4%, with energy stocks again a sore spot.
After a strong rebound Thursday, Singapore’s Straits Times Index was down 0.3%, on the way to a second-straight weekly decline, which hasn’t happened since early February. Telecom stocks were down, with StarHub off nearly 1%. Weakness was also seen in bank and property names.
Malaysian stocks started strongly higher after two days of heavy selling.
Stocks in South Korea and Taiwan were up modestly, while Australian stocks dipped lower.