Investing.com - Tokyo gained in Asia on Friday despite a missile test by North Korea over the Japanese island of Hokkaido that ramped-up regional tensions.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.48% while in South Korea the Kospi eased 0.16%. Elsewhere, the S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.62% and in Greater China the Hang Seng index rose 0.35% and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.32%.
The contest to buy Toshiba's memory chip contined with Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) alleged by the company to have "persistently overstate" rights over the Japanese company's flash memory unit. Toshiba also said it was committed to selling Toshiba Memory Corporation by March 2018.
Overnight, the Wall Street rally continued on Thursday, shaking off a spike in rate hike expectations following data showing the pace of inflation hit a seven-month high in August.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 22,214. The S&P 500 traded 0.11% lower while the Nasdaq Composite traded at 6429.08, down 0.48%.
Following the release of better-than-expected inflation data on Thursday, investor expectations of a December rate hike jumped to over 50% from 42% a day earlier, according to investing.com's Fed rate monitor.
The Labor Department said on Thursday its consumer Price index rose 0.4% last month after edging up 0.1% in July. The uptick in consumer prices in August was the largest monthly gain in seven months and lifted the year-on-year increase in the CPI to 1.9% from 1.7% in July.
In a separate report the U.S. Department of Labor reported that initial jobless claims decreased by 14,000 to 284,000 in the week ended Sept. 10, confounding forecasts of a 2,000 increase.
Meanwhile, geopolitical uncertainty resurfaced after North Korea made fresh threats in response to the latest United Nation sanctions, vowing to sink Japan with a nuclear weapon and “reduce the U.S. mainland into ashes and darkness.”
In corporate news, shares of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:AAPL) faltered for the third day in row, reflecting investor disappointment over the later-than-expected release date of Apple’s iPhone X.