Negativity on Wall Street flowed through to Asian markets on Friday, with regional stock indexes tracking lower in early trade amid declines in the technology sector.
The Nikkei 225 slipped 0.34 percent in early trade as semiconductor companies traded lower while financials and utilities held onto gains in early trade.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index slipped 0.44 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was lower by 0.26 percent.
Semiconductor companies in the region traded lower after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), the largest contract chipmaker in the world, said Thursday it was forecasting second-quarter revenue to come in between $7.8 billion and $7.9 billion, below a Wall Street estimate of $8.8 billion.
In Japan, Tokyo Electron and Advantest declined 3.85 percent and 3.91 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Samsung Electronic slid 1.93 percent and chipmaker SK Hynix tumbled 3.19 percent.
U.S. stocks closed moderately lower on Thursday, with the technology sector coming under pressure following TSMC’s weak guidance. Apple, for which TSMC is a supplier, fell 2.8 percent amid declines in other U.S. semiconductor stocks.
Investors also focused on higher U.S. bond yields after the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose above 2.9 percent. The two-year yield traded near its highest levels in almost a decade.
On the corporate front, earnings from China Unicom and China Mobile are expected on Friday, with Japan’s Tokyo Steel also due to report full-year results.
HSBC’s annual general meeting will also take place later in the day.
In currencies, the dollar firmed as U.S. bond yields rose. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six currencies, stood at 89.909. Against the yen, the dollar strengthened to trade at 107.43 at 8:03 a.m. HK/SIN.
Oil prices were little changed on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was flat at $68.29 per barrel, after rising as high as $69.56 in the last session and touching a more than three-year high. Brent crude futures tacked on 0.04 percent to $73.81.
Among individual movers, shares of Australia’s AMP rose 1.85 percent, outperforming its peers, after it said CEO Craig Meller would step down immediately following the company’s testimony at an Australian inquiry. AMP apologized for “misconduct and failures in regulator disclosures.”
The economic calendar for Friday is fairly light on data (all times in HK/SIN):
- 4:45 p.m.: Hong Kong second-quarter business confidence
— CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
