Investing.com - Asian shares were weaker on Friday in holiday-thinnesd trade with sentiment cautious ahead of a series of major events from next week's Federal Reserve meeting to the U.K. vote on whether to exit the European Union.
The S&P/ASX 200 eased 1.01%, while the Nikkei 225 was down 1.02%. Markets in China were shut for a holiday.
Overnight, U.S. stocks fell slightly on Thursday, recoiling from near 2016-yearly highs, as prominent billionaire investors George Soros and Carl Icahn delivered stinging public comments on the weakening state of the global economy.
In an exclusive interview with the Wall Street Journal, Soros cited a plethora of global concerns weighing on the current economic outlook including: China's debt-ridden economy, persistent economic struggles in Greece, the ongoing euro area migration crisis and the potential of a Brexit departure from the European Union in a controversial referendum in two weeks.
Shortly after, Icahn echoed the sentiments in an interview with CNBC's Squawk Box. In mid-May, reports surfaced that Soros increased his holdings in gold by nearly $400 million to hedge against economic uncertainty. On Thursday, investors piled into safe havens such as gold and the Japanese yen, as global bond yields continued to plunge.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 19.86 or 0.11% to 17,895.19, while the S&P 500 Composite index dipped 3.64 or 0.17% to 2,115.48, as both ended three-day winning streaks. On the S&P 500, seven of 10 sectors closed in the red, as stocks in the Basic Materials, Energy and Financials lagged. Stocks in the Utilities, Telecom and Consumer Goods industries led, each gaining more than 0.4% on the session. The NASDAQ Composite index, meanwhile, lost 3.64 or 0.17% to 2,115.48 as stocks in the biotech industry weighed.