Investing.com - Asian stocks traded lower Friday ahead of some potentially crucial data points due out later Friday from the euro zone and the U.S.
In Asian trading Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.47% as USD/JPY traded lower. The yen firmed up after Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said Thursday that a corporate tax cut would not have any immediate impact on the economy.
Yield’s on 10-year Japanese government bonds rose Friday as investors there continue to take money out of those bonds in search of higher-yielding fare overseas.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.91% while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.53%. Later Friday, the euro zone is to release official data on consumer price inflation and the trade balance.
The U.S. is scheduled to unveil critical housing starts and consumer starts, which will arrive as housing stocks are slumping and consumer discretionary shares are seen as overvalued.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.9% as 10-year yields rose there as well, but the benchmark Australian index is still positioned for a 1% weekly advance. The Aussie trader higher against the greenback but slightly lower against the yen after Japan’s Economics Minister Akira Amari said Thursday Japan is halfway out of deflation. The news is significant for the Aussie because Japan is Australia’s second-largest trading partner after China.
In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 15,000 last week to 320,000. That is lowest level since October 2007. The less volatile four-week average fell 4,000 to 332,000, the lowest reading since November 2007.
The Labor Department said U.S. consumer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month. Excluding energy and food, the core consumer-price index also rose 0.2% Overall CPI rose 0.5% and has risen 2% in the past year.
The New York Federal Reserve said its Empire State general business conditions index fell to 8.24 from 9.46 in July. Economists expected a reading of 10. Readings above zero indicate expansion. The index for the number of employees climbing to 10.84 from 3.26. The average employee workweek index jumped to 4.82 from minus 7.61, according to Reuters.
Those data points weighed on riskier assets, sending stocks on New Zealand’s NZSE 50 down 0.46%. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.50% while Singapore’s Straits Times Index gave up 0.89%.
S&P 500 futures inched up 0.02% a day after the benchmark U.S. index tumbled 1.43%.
In Asian trading Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.47% as USD/JPY traded lower. The yen firmed up after Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said Thursday that a corporate tax cut would not have any immediate impact on the economy.
Yield’s on 10-year Japanese government bonds rose Friday as investors there continue to take money out of those bonds in search of higher-yielding fare overseas.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.91% while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.53%. Later Friday, the euro zone is to release official data on consumer price inflation and the trade balance.
The U.S. is scheduled to unveil critical housing starts and consumer starts, which will arrive as housing stocks are slumping and consumer discretionary shares are seen as overvalued.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.9% as 10-year yields rose there as well, but the benchmark Australian index is still positioned for a 1% weekly advance. The Aussie trader higher against the greenback but slightly lower against the yen after Japan’s Economics Minister Akira Amari said Thursday Japan is halfway out of deflation. The news is significant for the Aussie because Japan is Australia’s second-largest trading partner after China.
In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 15,000 last week to 320,000. That is lowest level since October 2007. The less volatile four-week average fell 4,000 to 332,000, the lowest reading since November 2007.
The Labor Department said U.S. consumer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month. Excluding energy and food, the core consumer-price index also rose 0.2% Overall CPI rose 0.5% and has risen 2% in the past year.
The New York Federal Reserve said its Empire State general business conditions index fell to 8.24 from 9.46 in July. Economists expected a reading of 10. Readings above zero indicate expansion. The index for the number of employees climbing to 10.84 from 3.26. The average employee workweek index jumped to 4.82 from minus 7.61, according to Reuters.
Those data points weighed on riskier assets, sending stocks on New Zealand’s NZSE 50 down 0.46%. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.50% while Singapore’s Straits Times Index gave up 0.89%.
S&P 500 futures inched up 0.02% a day after the benchmark U.S. index tumbled 1.43%.