Investing.com - Asian stocks tracked their U.S. counterparts lower Friday a day after equities in the world’s largest economy endured their worst one-day performance since 2011 on concerns the Federal Reserve will begin tapering its monetary easing program later this year.
In Asian trading Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.87% as traders wait on a speech by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. Kuroda is not expected to make any suprise announcements, but some traders do think it is only matter of time before BoJ makes another stimulus announcement.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.02% while the Shanghai Composite dipped 0.55% after Thursday’s spike in China’s Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate, or SHIBOR, that country’s equivalent of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR. That spike prompted an emergency $8.2 billion liquidity injection into the banking system by the People’s Bank of China.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gave up 0.2% amid speculation the Fed could taper later this year and have quantitative easing over and done with by 2014 with an eye toward an interest rate increase in 2015. HSBC said it sees AUD/USD trading down to 88 cents by June 2014.
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 dipped 0.77% a day after data showed that New Zealand's gross domestic product rose 0.3% in the first quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.6% increase, after a 1.5% rise in the previous quarter.
South Korea’s Kospi slid 1.52% to its lowest levels in nearly a year. On Friday South Korean Finance Minister Minister Hyun Oh-seok said his country will take action if needed to stabilize markets there. Earlier this week, the Bank of Korea said changes in U.S. monetary policy are a concern for Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.14% while S&P 500 futures rose 0.36% a day after the benchmark U.S. index plunged 2.50%.