Asia report: Most markets lower as Brexit uncertainty rises

Most markets in Asia finished in the red on Thursday, with traders eyeing uncertainty over the UK’s two-year exit process from the European Union.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.8% to settle at 19,063.22, with a relatively strong yen pushing domestic stocks down.

The yen was last slightly weaker against the greenback, but still retained its relative strength, moving 0.05% weaker to JPY 111.10.

Technology firm Toshiba was well into the green, adding 4.01% after shareholders approved the spinning out of its valuable NAND flash memory division.

The firm has faced prolonged liquidity pressure as losses mounted at its failing US nuclear development acquisition, Westinghouse Electric.

Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in the US on Wednesday in a bid to protect its assets, after posting a multi-billion dollar write-down over the construction of a number of nuclear reactors.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 1% to 3,208.93, while the Shenzhen Composite was off 1.97% at 1,979.58.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.11% to 2,164.64, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was 0.37% lower at 24,301.09.

Seoul’s technology star Samsung Electronics took the wraps off its next flagship smartphone overnight in the US - the Galaxy S8 - leading to a 0.48% rise in the firm’s stock.

The firm was hoping the Galaxy S8 would herald a turnaround in its public image, after a number of products were recalled for being fire prone.

It recalled both the original run of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, and subsequently its replacements, in September last year after a number of the devices reportedly combusted in consumer use.

Some of Samsung’s washing machine and dryer models were also being recalled in the US due to their fire risk, several years after similar problems were discovered in their laundry appliances in New Zealand and Australia.

Traders around the globe were looking to the UK, after Prime Minister Theresa May’s formal resignation letter taking the country out of the European Union was delivered to Brussels on Wednesday.

The UK and the EU now have two years to agree on terms of the exit - with the UK crashing out of the EU and reverting to WTO trading rules if a deal is not reached.

Oil prices were lower during Asian trading on Thursday, with Brent crude last down 0.61% to $52.10 and West Texas Intermediate off 0.32% at $49.35.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.39% to 5,896.23, with the weighty energy and materials subindexes underpinning the benchmark.

Evacuations were taking place from a number of resort islands in the tropical northern parts of Queensland on Thursday, as water supplies began to dry out in the wake of Cyclone Debbie.

Tens of thousands of people were still without power on the mainland, with more heavy rainfall forecast in the wake of the tropical storm.

Fresh official data out of Canberra showed a 1.8% rise in vacant jobs quarter-on-quarter, to 182,400.

That was the largest number of open positions since the May 2011 quarter, but was seen by analysts as a sign of a buoyant job market.

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was also in the green, adding 0.5% to 7,169.12, led higher by accounting software developer Xero, which added 3%.

The company had announced that it reached a milestone on Thursday, having signed more than one million businesses globally onto its software-as-a-service platform.

It was a mixed picture for the down under dollars, with the Aussie last 0.04% stronger at AUD 1.3033 against the greenback, and the Kiwi weakening 0.3% to NZD 1.4261 to the $1.