Investing.com - Most Asian stocks traded lower during Friday’s session with traders backing away from riskier assets as the U.S. government shutdown stretched into a third day.
In Asian trading Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.51%. On Friday, the Bank of Japan concluded its policy meeting with out major announcements regarding its current monetary policy. BoJ maintained its view that the economy was recovering at a moderate pace, CNBC reported. BoJ Governor Kuroda is scheduled to speak later today.
The central bank kept its economic assessment unchanged as well, but BoJ member Kuichi proposed making the goal of 2% inflation within two years a medium- to long-term, but that proposal was shot down as he was the only BoJ member to support it.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.52% while the Shanghai Composite remained close for a holiday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX lost 0.4% even as traders appeared comfortable that the Reserve Bank of Australia will not lower interest rates again in the near-term.
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 lost 0.17%. In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the ISM non-manfacturing PMI showed a sharper than expected decline from 58.6 to 54.4, lower than the consensus at 57.4.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Sept. 28 rose by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 308,000, better than analysts' calls for jobless claims to rise by 6,000 to 313,000 last week.
It is widely the U.S. government shutdown, which is believed to be costing the U.S. USD300 million per day, will forced the the U.S. non-farm payroll data for September to be delayed. That data point was slated to be released Friday.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2% after reopening from a holiday closure on Thursday. Singapore’s Straits Times Index inched up 0.04%. S&P 500 futures nudged up 0.01% a day after the benchmark U.S. index slipped 0.90%.
In Asian trading Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.51%. On Friday, the Bank of Japan concluded its policy meeting with out major announcements regarding its current monetary policy. BoJ maintained its view that the economy was recovering at a moderate pace, CNBC reported. BoJ Governor Kuroda is scheduled to speak later today.
The central bank kept its economic assessment unchanged as well, but BoJ member Kuichi proposed making the goal of 2% inflation within two years a medium- to long-term, but that proposal was shot down as he was the only BoJ member to support it.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.52% while the Shanghai Composite remained close for a holiday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX lost 0.4% even as traders appeared comfortable that the Reserve Bank of Australia will not lower interest rates again in the near-term.
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 lost 0.17%. In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the ISM non-manfacturing PMI showed a sharper than expected decline from 58.6 to 54.4, lower than the consensus at 57.4.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Sept. 28 rose by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 308,000, better than analysts' calls for jobless claims to rise by 6,000 to 313,000 last week.
It is widely the U.S. government shutdown, which is believed to be costing the U.S. USD300 million per day, will forced the the U.S. non-farm payroll data for September to be delayed. That data point was slated to be released Friday.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2% after reopening from a holiday closure on Thursday. Singapore’s Straits Times Index inched up 0.04%. S&P 500 futures nudged up 0.01% a day after the benchmark U.S. index slipped 0.90%.