Major indexes in Asia traded mostly lower on Thursday while the dollar remained on the back foot after tumbling in the last session.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 0.91 percent, with most sectors — including automakers, technology, manufacturing and financials — trading in negative territory. Major exporters traded lower following the dollar’s overnight fall against the yen. Fanuc Manufacturing declined 1.01 percent and Nintendo lost 1.19 percent.
Oil-related stocks were a bright patch in the morning as oil prices rose to their highest levels since December 2014, with Inpex trading higher by 0.13 percent.
The Nikkei 225 had notched a fresh 26-year high earlier in the week, but closed in negative territory in the last session. The index has gained around 2.8 percent year-to-date.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi rose 0.71 percent, with recent earnings reports in focus.
Shares of SK Hynix rose 2.9 percent after the chipmaker announced Thursday that fourth-quarter operating profit came in at a record high of 4.47 trillion won ($4.42 billion). Annual operating profit for 2017, meanwhile, stood at a record 13.7 trillion won ($12.9 billion), which the company attributed to a rapid growth in overall memory demand.
Meanwhile, Posco stock reversed early losses to edge up 0.78 percent after the steelmaker reported earnings on Wednesday.
Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 edged down by 0.21 percent on weakness in most sectors except for energy and materials. Gold producers were up 2.62 percent after the metal’s prices rose to their highest levels in one and a half years on the softer dollar.
The heavily-weighted financials sector traded lower for the most part.
Greater China markets were under pressure in the early going. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.55 percent after closing higher for the seventh straight session on Wednesday. Financials were broadly lower in the morning, with China Construction Bank declining 2.41 percent and HSBC off by 0.23 percent.
Technology names were also in negative territory, with heavyweight Tencent losing 1.24 percent. Energy-related names extended gains as oil prices climbed. Petrochina rose 3.38 percent and CNOOC gained 1.09 percent.
On the mainland, the Shanghai composite edged down 0.58 percent and the Shenzhen composite inched lower by 0.08 percent.
U.S. stocks closed mixed on Wednesday despite touching all-time highs earlier in the session. The moves came as markets focused on a mix of corporate earnings, trade war concerns and the broad decline in the U.S. currency.
The dollar remained on the back foot after tumbling overnight following U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s comments that a weaker greenback was good for the country.
At 9:56 a.m. HK/SIN, the dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of rivals, was steady at 89.258 after falling to a fresh three-year low overnight. Against the yen, the dollar continued to trade below the 110 handle at 109.27, but was off Wednesday’s low of 108.95.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross later told CNBC that Mnuchin’s remarks should not be seen as advocacy for a weaker dollar. Ross also said there was a “good chance” that U.S. renegotiation efforts in NAFTA talks would turn out well.
Those developments came after President Donald Trump approved tariffs against imported solar cells and certain washing machines. The move, while seen as having a small economic impact for now, had raised some concerns over future trade moves in the region. South Korea and China also spoke out against the tariffs earlier in the week.
The euro, meanwhile, stood at $1.2406, a touch below a high of $1.2415 hit overnight. The move in the euro also came ahead of the European Central Bank’s interest rates decision on Thursday during Europe hours.
“There’s no doubt in our minds that [ECB President Mario] Draghi will try to jawbone the currency by expressing his discontent with its rapid rise, but that may not be enough to reverse the uptrend in the euro,” BK Asset Management Managing Director of FX Strategy Kathy Lien wrote in a note.
On the energy front, oil prices extended gains to touch their highest levels since December 2014 on Thursday. U.S. crude futures advanced 0.99 percent to trade at $66.26 per barrel. Brent crude rose 0.57 percent to trade at $70.94.
The economic calendar for Thursday is fairly light (all times in HK/SIN):
- 3:00 p.m.: Bank Negara Malaysia rates decision
- 4:30 p.m.: Hong Kong trade data
