Investing.com - Asian shares held mildly weaker on Friday as investors move to the sidelines ahead of a Federal Reserve rate review next week that is expected to hold steady, but also possibly adopt a more hawkish tone.
The S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.48% and the Nikkei 225 declined 0.30%.
The Shanghai Composite eased 0.42% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.75%. The yuan fell against the dollar on Friday after the People's Bank of China set a weaker fixing for a second consecutive day at 6.4898, compared with 6.4803.
Overnight, U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday, suffering its worst one-day sell-off in two weeks, as a rally in the dollar triggered a reversal in oil prices and a disappointing session among defensive sectors weighed on the major indices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 113.75 or 0.63% to 17,982.52, while the S&P 500 Composite index fell 10.92 or 0.52% to 2,091.48, on a rare losing session for both. Previously, both the Dow and S&P 500 had closed higher in six of seven sessions. The Dow closed below 18,000 for the first time in four sessions. The NASDAQ Composite index, meanwhile, fell 2.24 or 0.05% to 4,945.89, as software and other technology stocks lagged.