Asian shares down with Sydney off on NAB rights issue, Tokyo falls

Investing.com - Shares in Sydney dropped on Thursday after mixed jobs data and a complex restructuring announcement from National Australia Bank including a A$5.5 billion rights issue.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.93%, while NAB shares held flat at A$35.20. Elsewhere, Tokyo also fell after returning from a three-day break, with the Nikkei 225 down 0.93% as well.

In Greater China, the Hang Seng index eased 0.57%, and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.41%.

Australia lost 2,900 jobs in April, well below the 5,000 gain expected, but March was revised up from 37,700 gained to 48,200. The unemployment rate ticked up to 6.2% from 6.1% on a steady participation rate of 64.8% as expected.

Earlier, the AIG Construction index fell 3.1 points in April to 47, back into contraction on a fall in new orders in the commercial- and apartment-building sectors and a continued decline in incoming engineering-construction work.

"The distinct fall in sector wide new orders is a clear warning that activity is unlikely to rebound anytime soon with only the house building sub-sector avoiding contraction," said AI Group head of policy Peter Burn.

"The Reserve Bank's further trimming of interest rates this week may stimulate activity somewhat but it is difficult to see why this additional reduction will be effective in lifting overall activity unless supported by a degree of budget stimulus next week."

Overnight, U.S. stocks fell broadly on Wednesday extending losses from one day earlier, as Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen warned of the potential dangers from high stock valuations in equities markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P 500 Composite index all dropped by at least 0.4%, as a late rally spared U.S. stocks from reaching its biggest two-day sell-off since late-January. The Dow lost 86.22 or 0.48% to 17,841.98, nearly dropping into negative territory for the year, while the NASDAQ fell 19.69 or 0.40% to 4,919.64, as it continued to retreat from near-record highs from early last week.

The S&P 500, meanwhile, dropped by 9.31 points or 0.45% to 2,080.15, as all but one of 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Telecommunication and Utilities sectors lagged, closing down by more than 0.50%, while Consumer Goods led after finishing the session as the only sector in the green.

Speaking at an appearance at the Institute for New Economic Thinking's Finance and Society Conference, Yellen sounded off on the current state of global bond and equities markets. Responding to a question posed by IMF head Christine Lagarde, Yellen indicated that while the Fed is somewhat concerned about financial stability in the equity markets, it is not worried about potential bubbles forming.

"I would highlight that equity market valuations at this point generally are quite high," Yellen said. "There are potential dangers there."