CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading lower on Friday with investors treading cautiously amid uncertainty about the U.S. economic recovery following some recent downbeat data. Worries about the situation in Iraq too appear to be weighing on sentiment to an extent.
After a flat start and a subsequent modest upmove, the Australian stock market is trading slightly lower. Healthcare and mining stocks are finding some support, while consumer discretionary stocks are weak. Financial, energy and property trusts stocks are mixed.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 4.2 points at 5,460.1, after having advanced to 5,480.1 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries index, which rose to 5,462.1, is currently up 3.5 points at 5,443.3.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac (WBK) are modestly lower, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia is flat. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is up 0.2 percent, while Bank of Queensland is down 0.6 percent.
Among top miners, BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) are marginally higher. Fortescue Metals is adding 2.5 percent, while Newcrest Mining is down with a modest loss.
Santos is up nearly 2 percent. Arrium, Scentre Group, Duet Group, Orica and Primary Healthcare are higher by 1 to 1.5 percent.
Tatts Group Limited shares are higher by about 3 percent following the company winning a compensation claim against the Victorian government worth at least A$450 million.
Meanwhile, Tabcorp Holdings is declining over 5.5 percent. Tabcorp too had sought compensation from the Victorian government in a similar case, but lost the challenge, as the court accepted the State's argument that amendments to the legislation made by the State in 2008 and 2009 impliedly repealed the statutory provision which gave rise to the payment entitlement.
Metcash is down nearly 5 percent. Boral, Iluka Resouces, Treasury Wine Estates, Harvey Norman Holdings and Dexus Property Group are declining 1 to 2.5 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened higher against the U.S. dollar on the back of some disappointing U.S. economic reports. In early trades, the local unit was quoting at US$0.9415, up slightly from Thursday's close of US$0.9412.
The Japanese stock market drifted lower amid the release of a slew of economic data. A stronger yen and the overnight flat close on Wall Street prompted investors to indulge in some selling.
Oil and mining stocks opened on a weak note, while shares from pharmaceuticals and utilities sections edged higher.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 95.5 points or 0.6 percent at 15,213.0 when the morning session ended.
Showa Shell Sekiyu KK, Okuma Corp., Amada Co., Yokohama Rubber, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Okuma Corp., Fujitsu, Hino Motors, Nitto Boseki and Toyo Seikan Group Holdings lost 2 to 3.3 percent.
Tokyo Electron, Furukawa, Minebea Co., NGK Insulators, Casio Computer, Canon Inc. (CAJ), Toho Zinc, T&D Holdings, Yahoo Japan, Japan Tobacco and Matsui Securities were all down by over 1.5 percent at the break.
Konica Minolta Inc. shares are retreated after moving up marginally. The stock saw some buying earlier in the day on a likely 50 percent jump in first-quarter operating profit.
Among the gainers, Oki Electric Industry advanced 2.8 percent and Credit Saison moved up 2.4 percent. Kansai Electric Power rose 1.7 percent, while Nippon Electric Glass, Toyota Tsusho Corp., Pioneer Corp., Dainippon Screen Manufacturing and Tokyo Electric Power gained 0.5 to 1.3 percent.
J Front Retailing Co. shares were up 0.6 percent after the company reported a first-quarter increase in operating profit and sales.
Mitsubishi Motors was up marginally. According to reports, the company will start supplying Fiat Chrysler Automobiles with sedans for sale in Asian markets later this year.
In economic news, nationwide consumer prices in Japan were up 3.7 percent on year in May, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday - in line with expectations and up from 3.4 percent in April.
Core CPI, which strips out the volatile prices of food, was up 3.4 percent - also matching forecasts and up from 3.2 percent in the previous month. On a monthly basis, overall inflation and core CPI both added 0.4 percent.
Overall consumer prices in the Tokyo region - considered a leading indicator for the nationwide trend - climbed 3.0 percent on year in June. That was below forecasts for 3.1 percent, which would have been unchanged. Core CPI for Tokyo gained 2.8 percent on year - unchanged and in line with expectations.
According to another report from the ministry of internal affairs, Japan saw a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.5 percent in May, beating forecasts for 3.6 percent, which would have been unchanged from the April reading.
The jobs-to-applicant ratio came in at 1.10 - surpassing expectations for 1.08, which also would have been unchanged from the previous month.
Meanwhile, the average of household spending in Japan was down 8.0 percent on year at 271,411 yen in May, a report from the same ministry showed. That was well shy of forecasts for a decline of 2.1 percent on year following the 4.6 percent contraction in April.
The average of monthly income per household stood at 421,117 yen, down 4.6 percent on year. The average of consumption expenditures per household was 293,050 yen, down 8.8 percent on year.
According to data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the value of retail sales in Japan was down 0.4 percent on year in May, coming in at 11.434 trillion yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 2.0 percent following the 4.3 percent contraction in April.
On a seasonally adjusted, monthly basis, retail sales climbed 4.6 percent - beating forecasts for an increase of 2.9 percent following the 13.6 percent fall a month earlier.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 101 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 101.55 to the U.S. dollar, compared to Thursday's close of 101.78 yen per dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan are all modestly lower, while New Zealand is bucking the trend and trading slightly higher.
On Wall Street, stocks ended roughly flat on Thursday, despite staging a significant recovery after early weakness. The early weakness on was partly due to renewed concerns about the economic outlook following the release of a Commerce Department report showing weaker than expected personal spending growth in the month of May.
While the Dow ended down 21.4 points or 0.1 percent at 16,846.1, the Nasdaq dipped 0.7 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,379.1 and the S&P 500 slipped 2.3 points or 0.1 percent to 1,957.2.
Major European markets ended mixed on Thursday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index closed just above the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index closed lower by 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil ended at a two-week low on Thursday, as the dollar trended higher on some soft economic data out of the U.S. with initial claims for unemployment benefits declining less than expected amid concerns over the escalating sectarian violence in Iraq.
Crude for August delivery ended down $0.66 or 0.6 percent at $105.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after scaling a high of $106.81 a barrel intraday.
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