Asian stocks were mixed in early trade on the last trading day of the week, taking cues from Wall Street’s overnight performance.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.35 percent in early morning trade, with weakness seen in insurers and mining stocks. Despite the overall move lower, the oil and coal products subindex held onto gains, as did retailers, with Fast Retailing higher by 0.57 percent.
Elsewhere, the Kospi pulled back by 0.66 percent as major technology names recorded declines in early trade. Samsung Electronics fell 2.03 percent and SK Hynix declined 2.18 percent.
Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 bucked the overall downward trend to inch higher, with the index last trading higher by 0.14 percent. Consumer stocks advanced, while the heavily weighted financials and materials sectors traded sideways early on.
That followed the mixed session seen stateside on Thursday. Major U.S. indexes traded flat for most of the day before slipping late in the session as investors focused on this quarter’s strong earnings. Nearly 90 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results so far.
Trade concerns have also been in the spotlight, with China announcing earlier this week that it would retaliate against recent U.S. tariffs. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced Wednesday a 25 percent tariff on $16 billion in U.S. goods, a move that came after the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said duties on $16 billion in Chinese imports would take effect on Aug. 23.
The Nasdaq Composite notched its eighth consecutive positive session, finishing the day higher by 0.04 percent at 7,891.78. That was the tech-heavy index’s longest win streak this year. Other major U.S. indexes finished the session slightly lower.
European markets were also mixed overnight, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 edging 0.1 percent higher and the FTSE 100 slipping 0.45 percent. Asian markets, meanwhile, closed mostly higher on Thursday.
The dollar held onto overnight gains on Friday, with the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, last at 95.647. Against the yen, the dollar traded at 111.04 at 8:02 a.m. HK/SIN.
Ahead, markets are expected to watch for the release of U.S. consumer inflation data, with economists expecting core Consumer Price Index, which excludes food and energy prices, to rise by 0.2 percent in July.
Other notable moves included the slide in the Russian ruble on Thursday following news of U.S. sanctions on the country linked to an alleged poisoning in Britain earlier in the year. The currency traded at 66.5814 at 8:04 a.m. HK/SIN.
Meanwhile, the Turkish lira dropped in the previous session, touching a new low against the dollar after talks between officials from the U.S. and Turkey reportedly yielded no major progress, according to Reuters. The lira was on the back foot at 5.5523 to the dollar.
On the earnings front, corporates due to report results on Friday include Japan Post Holdings.
Here’s the economic calendar for Friday (all times in HK/SIN):
- 9:30 a.m.: Reserve Bank of Australia statement of monetary policy
- 4: 30 p.m.: Hong Kong second-quarter GDP
— CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
