Asia report: Most markets lower after weak Thursday on Wall St

Most markets in Asia finished lower on Friday, after a red session on Wall Street overnight amid fresh concerns about the future of federal tax reform in the US.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.62% to 22,553.22, as the yen strengthened 0.18% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 112.19.

The major exporters were lower as the yen strengthened, with Honda down 1.02% and Toyota off 1.02%.

Another losing sector on Tokyo was telecoms, with NTT Docomo falling 4.6% and SoftBank off 2.39%.

On the economic front, fresh tankan survey data showed an improvement in sentiment among large manufacturers for the fifth consecutive quarter.

The +25 reading was the highest from the survey in 11 years.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was off 0.8% at 3,266.15, while the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite was down 0.72% at 1,901.20.

South Korea’s Kospi finished ahead 0.51% at 2,482.07, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slid 1.09% to 28,848.11.

The positive performance in Seoul was driven largely by blue-chip stocks, with Hyundai Motor ahead 2.33% and Posco up 0.91%.

Technology was a notably mixed sector, however, with Samsung Electronics down 0.86%.

Attention early in the session was towards the US, where investors shifted their agendas from the Federal Reserve to tax reform in a weak session overnight.

Senator Marco Rubio confirmed he opposed his own party’s current tax plans on Thursday, with at least two other senators from the Republican party remaining on the fence.

Vice-president Mike Pence put off a visit to the Middle East on Thursday, instead staying home to deal with the bill’s uncertainty.

Oil prices were up, with Brent crude last up 0.22% at $63.45 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate adding 0.59% to $57.43.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.24% by end-of-play, at 5,997.00, with gains in the major miners offset by losses in the hefty financials subindex.

BHP eked out gains of 0.04% in Sydney, while Rio Tinto was up 1.13%.

Across the Tasman Sea, the S&P/NZX 50 also went against the regional trend to close 0.4% higher at 8,360.86, led higher by manuka honey producer Comvita, which rose 7.3%.

The down under dollars were both stronger, with the Aussie ahead just 0.01% against the greenback at AUD 1.3043 and the Kiwi strengthening 0.57% to NZD 1.4242.