Manila, July 4: Asian shares were mixed on Friday after US stocks climbed further into record heights as the clock ticks on President Donald Trump’s July 9 tariff deadline.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6 per cent to 39,762.20 after earlier gains, while South Korea’s KOSPI index was down 1.2 per cent to 3,078.31.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.6 per cent to 23,914.44 while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.4 per cent to 3,475.24. Australia’s S and P/ASX 200 rose 0.1 per cent to 8,609.50. India’s Sensex index was up 0.1 per cent to 83,288.73.
“Asian markets slipped into Friday like someone entering a dark alley with one eye over their shoulder — because while US equities danced higher on a sweet spotted post-payroll sugar rush, the mood in Asia was far less celebratory. The reason? That familiar, twitchy unease every time Trump gets near the tariff trigger,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, wrote in a commentary.
On Thursday, after a report showed a US job market stronger than Wall Street expected, the S and P 500 rose 0.8 per cent and set an all-time high for the fourth time in five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 344 points, or 0.8 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1 per cent.
Many of Trump’s stiff proposed taxes on imports are currently on pause, but they’re scheduled to kick in next week unless Trump reaches deals with other countries to lower them.
In other dealings on Friday, US benchmark crude was down 19 cents to USD 68.81 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 30 cents to USD 68.50 per barrel.
The US dollar slid to 144.48 Japanese yen from 144.92 yen. The euro edged higher to USD 1.1771 from USD 1.1761. (AP)
