Investing.com - Most Asian bourses traded lower Friday as equities and other riskier assets took a breather a day after soaring on news the Federal Reserve will not alter its USD85 billion-per-month bond-buying program known as quantitative easing.
In Asian trading Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.17% as USD/JPY traded lower. The yen came under some pressure Thursday after Bank of Japan Board Member Takahide Kiuchi said the central bank may expand its easing programs. Japan’s current stimulus have achieved the goal of weakening the yen and boosting Japanese stocks, but the goal of 2% inflation within two years still appears far off.
Elsewhere, technical analysis by Bank of America Merrill Lynch shows USD/JPY could head to 106 and then 109.80, the latter of which would be the yen’s weakest level in over five years, Bloomberg reported.
Markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed due to public holidays. Japanese markets will be closed Monday.
Australia’s fell 0.4% as stocks in the world’s 12th-largest economy backed off five-year highs. New Zealand’s NZSE 50 lost 0.48% a day after racing to an all-time following the Fed news and a strong GDP report.
Traders in Asia appeared to ignore a batch of strong U.S. data points in favor of locking in no tapering news profits. In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the National Association of Realtors said sales of previously owned homes rose 1.7% to 5.48 million units last month. That is good for the best reading since early 2007.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its Philly Fed manufacturing survey climbed to 22.3 in September, the highest since March 2011, from 9.3 in August. Economists expected a September reading of 10.
Readings above zero indicates expansion in the region's manufacturing. The survey covers factories in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. The new orders index surged to 21.2 from 5.3, also a 2½-year high, while employment hit a 17-month high of 10.3 from 3.5.
The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose 0.7% last month following a 0.5% increase in July.
The Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 15,000 to 309,000 last week. Economists expected reading of 330,000 claims. The less volatile four-week moving average fell to 314,750, the lowest since October 2007.
Exchanges in South Korea and Taiwan were also closed, but Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.34%.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.14% a day after the benchmark U.S. index dropped 0.18%.
In Asian trading Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.17% as USD/JPY traded lower. The yen came under some pressure Thursday after Bank of Japan Board Member Takahide Kiuchi said the central bank may expand its easing programs. Japan’s current stimulus have achieved the goal of weakening the yen and boosting Japanese stocks, but the goal of 2% inflation within two years still appears far off.
Elsewhere, technical analysis by Bank of America Merrill Lynch shows USD/JPY could head to 106 and then 109.80, the latter of which would be the yen’s weakest level in over five years, Bloomberg reported.
Markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed due to public holidays. Japanese markets will be closed Monday.
Australia’s fell 0.4% as stocks in the world’s 12th-largest economy backed off five-year highs. New Zealand’s NZSE 50 lost 0.48% a day after racing to an all-time following the Fed news and a strong GDP report.
Traders in Asia appeared to ignore a batch of strong U.S. data points in favor of locking in no tapering news profits. In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the National Association of Realtors said sales of previously owned homes rose 1.7% to 5.48 million units last month. That is good for the best reading since early 2007.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its Philly Fed manufacturing survey climbed to 22.3 in September, the highest since March 2011, from 9.3 in August. Economists expected a September reading of 10.
Readings above zero indicates expansion in the region's manufacturing. The survey covers factories in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. The new orders index surged to 21.2 from 5.3, also a 2½-year high, while employment hit a 17-month high of 10.3 from 3.5.
The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose 0.7% last month following a 0.5% increase in July.
The Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 15,000 to 309,000 last week. Economists expected reading of 330,000 claims. The less volatile four-week moving average fell to 314,750, the lowest since October 2007.
Exchanges in South Korea and Taiwan were also closed, but Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.34%.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.14% a day after the benchmark U.S. index dropped 0.18%.