CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Friday following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street amid renewed political uncertainty in the U.S. following the release of the whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump.
The document outlined concerns about Trump 'using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.' Investors also remained cautious following mixed news headlines on the US-China trade front.
The Australian market is advancing as investors shrugged off the negative cues from Wall Street. Optimism about U.S.-China trade talks helped boost sentiment.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 36.50 points or 0.55 percent to 6,714.10, after rising to a high of 6,716.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is rising 36.00 points or 0.53 percent to 6,821.60. Australian stocks closed lower on Thursday.
The major miners are higher. Fortescue Metals is advancing almost 1 percent, BHP Billiton is adding 0.4 percent and Rio Tinto is up 0.2 percent.
The big four banks - ANZ Banking, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac - are advancing in a range of 0.4 percent to 0.7 percent.
Oil stocks are also mostly higher despite crude oil prices edging lower overnight. Woodside Petroleum is rising 0.5 percent and Santos is edging up 0.1 percent, while Oil Search is lower by 0.4 percent.
Meanwhile, gold miners Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining are declining almost 1 percent each even as gold prices edged higher overnight.
Yowie Group has been forced into an impairment of A$741 thousand after the chocolate maker's assets were found to be worth more than it's market capitalization of A$16 million. As a result, the company's net loss for the year to June 30 has now widened from the prior year. The chocolate maker's shares are unchanged.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is almost flat against the U.S. dollar on Friday. The local currency was quoted at $0.6751, compared to $0.6752 on Thursday.
The Japanese market is declining following the negative cues from Wall Street amid renewed political uncertainty in the U.S. In addition, shares of several major companies on the Topix index are trading ex-dividend.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 185.34 points or 0.84 percent to 21,862.90, after touching a low of 21,826.55 in early trades. Japanese stocks edged up on Thursday.
Shares of Japan Display are losing more than 7 percent after the company, a key supplier for tech giant Apple, said that China's Harvest Tech Investment Management Co. will withdraw from a bailout plan for the display maker.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is lower by almost 1 percent and Advantest is down 0.1 percent.
The major exporters are also mostly lower despite a weaker yen. Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are declining more than 1 percent, while Panasonic is down 0.2 percent. Canon is advancing almost 1 percent.
In the auto sector, Toyota Motor and Honda Motor are declining almost 1 percent each.
The Nikkei business daily reported that Toyota plans to raise its stake in Subaru to above 20 percent from the current nearly 17 percent stake, under a broad agreement that involves closer co-operation in new areas. Shares of Subaru are adding almost 1 percent.
Market heavyweight SoftBank is losing more than 1 percent, while Fast Retailing is down 0.4 percent.
Among oil stocks, Inpex is rising almost 2 percent and Japan Petroleum is higher by almost 1 percent even as crude oil prices edged lower overnight.
Among the other major gainers, Fanuc Corp. is rising almost 2 percent, while Unitika and Dena Co. are advancing more than 1 percent each.
On the flip side, Kansai Electric Power is losing almost 5 percent and Chiba Bank is lower by almost 4 percent. Daiwa Securities and Nissan Motor are declining more than 3 percent each.
On the economic front, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said that overall consumer prices in Tokyo were up just 0.4 percent on year in September. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent and down from 0.6 percent in August.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, rose an annual 0.5 percent - also missing forecasts for 0.6 percent and down from 0.7 percent in the previous month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 107 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is declining more than 1 percent, while Singapore, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are also lower. Shanghai is little changed.
On Wall Street, stocks closed moderately lower on Thursday amid renewed political uncertainty following the release of the whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. The document outlines concerns about Trump 'using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.'
The Dow fell 79.59 points or 0.3 percent to 26,891.12, the Nasdaq slid 46.72 points or 0.6 percent to 8,030.66 and the S&P 500 dipped 7.25 points or 0.2 percent to 2,977.62. The major European markets moved to the upside on Thursday. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures pared losses and ended just marginally down on Thursday, as traders continued to weigh global crude demand and supply positions. WTI crude for November delivery edged down $0.08 or less than 0.1 percent to $56.41 a barrel.
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