Investing.com - Asian shares traded mixed on Friday, driven by an apparent roadblock to US Senate passage of President Donald Trumps tax cut plans and a weaker than expected private manufacturing survey out of China.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was flat. Toyota retreated from gains of roughly 1% to trade up 0.14%, Honda was up 0.96%t and Mitsubishi Electric gave up gains to trade flat.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.19%. In Greater China, the Shnaghai Composte fell 0.24% and the Hang Seng index gained 0.04%.
Senate Republicans have delayed voting on their tax bill as a setback forced them to patch up the plan only hours before a planned final vote. The bill will be reworked and roll call votes are set for 11 a.m. on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
The Senate parliamentarian ruled Thursday that a fiscal "trigger," important to winning deficit-wary Sen. Bob Corker's support for the GOP plan, will not work under Senate rules.
China's manufacturing activity fell in November to the weakest pace in five months as input costs remained with the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index down to 50.8 from 51.0 in October.
By contrast the official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released on Thursday stood at 51.8 in November, compared with 51.6 in October.
Earlier, Japan reported household spending for October fell 2.0%, compared with a 1.4% decline expected on month and was flat, compared to a 0.4% dip expected on year.
National core CPI rose 0.8% as expected and national CPI gained 0.2% as seen. The unemployment rate held steady at 2.8%.
The manufacturing PMI for November in Japan came in at 53.6, missing the with a 53.8 level expected.
Overnight, Wall Street rallied to record highs on Wednesday, amid bullish expectations on tax reform while a bevy of mostly upbeat economic fuelled a rally in financials.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 24,272. The S&P 500 closed 0.82% higher while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6873.97, up 0.73%.
Investors hopes grew of tax reform being passed before the end of the year after Sen. John McCain announced his support of the Senate's tax bill, greatly increasing its chances of passage through the congressional body.
That lifted stocks of financials, mostly banks, as JPMorgan (NYSE:NYSE:JPM), Bank of America (NYSE:NYSE:BAC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:NYSE:GS) added to early session gains which followed the release of upbeat economic data.
The Core Price Consumer Expenditure (PCE) Index – the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation – rose 1.4% in October year-on-year, compared to a 1.3% rise in the previous month, while September inflation was revised upward to 1.4% from 1.3%.
On the jobs data front, number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the week ended Nov. 25, fell by 2,000 to 238,000.
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, rose 0.3% in line with economists’ expectations.
Technology stocks, meanwhile, rebounded as investors appeared to take advantage of the selloff in tech stocks on Wednesday.
Also adding to the positive sentiment on equities was in energy stocks after OPEC non-OPEC members agreed to extend production cuts through 2018. Crude prices settled slight higher at $57.40 per barrel.