Asian stocks traded mixed early on Thursday, as Japanese markets shrugged off weakness seen overnight on Wall Street. U.S. stocks declined in the last session as the technology sector mostly remained under pressure.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.46 percent, paring some of the steeper gains seen in the morning as the yen firmed after falling overnight. The broader Topix traded higher by 0.06 percent, with the oil and coal index leading gains in the morning.
Pharmaceuticals declined as shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical dropped 6.15 percent. The Japanese company said Wednesday that it was at “a preliminary and exploratory stage” regarding a possible bid for U.K. drugmaker Shire.
Elsewhere, the Kospi was off by 0.04 percent as technology stocks, banks and manufacturing names traded in negative territory. Despite the broader move lower, Samsung Electronics edged up by 0.21 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was off by 0.59 percent as the technology sector led losses in the morning, with heavyweight Tencent down 1.46 percent. Apple supplier AAC Technologies was down 2.46 percent after the iPhone maker declined in U.S. trade.
On the mainland, the Shanghai composite traded lower by 0.62 percent while the smaller Shenzhen composite dipped 0.03 percent.
Down Under, the ASX 200 edged down 0.52 percent, paring slim gains seen earlier in the morning. The materials sector and gold producers were weaker in the morning, although utilities and heavily weighted financials were bright spots amid the broader decline.
Ahead, corporates due to report later in the day include Melco International, CNOOC, COSCO Shipping and Bank of Communications.
Markets in India were closed on Thursday.
Tech, trade and North Korea
U.S. technology stocks fell on Wednesday, with Amazon, Netflix and Apple losing 4.4 percent, 5 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. The declines saw the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite close down 0.85 percent at 6,949.23.
Other U.S. stock indexes recorded slighter losses, with the Dow Jones industrial average slipping 0.04 percent after trading in a wide range through the day.
Technology shares stumbled earlier in the week, bringing an end to a brief rally in markets linked to an apparent easing in trade tensions.
Trade issues also continued to simmer as global markets watched for developments in U.S.-China trade ties after President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum earlier this month that could put tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese goods.
Meanwhile, U.S. government debt yields slipped as investors turned to traditionally safer assets. That yield on the 10-year Treasury note stood at 2.78 percent on Thursday after touching its lowest levels in seven weeks in the last session. (Bond yields move inversely to their prices.)
“Uncertainty about trade discussions and end-quarter buying supported fixed income across the board,” said ANZ Research analysts in a morning note.
Investors also took note of developments ahead of potential talks between the U.S. and North Korea after China confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for talks.
China said on Wednesday that North Korea has agreed to denuclearize, although the latter has not publicly commented on the matter.
In currencies, the dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against six peers, stood at 90.033 at 10:11 a.m. HK/SIN, slipping from a one-week high touched overnight.
Against the yen, the greenback pared some of its overnight gains to trade at 106.57, compared to a high of 106.86 seen overnight. The dollar traded at levels around the 105 handle at the beginning of the week.
The moves in the yen come as month-end, quarter-end, as well as year-end for many Japanese corporates flows were also figuring in foreign exchange moves, Ray Attrill, head of foreign exchange strategy at National Australia Bank, said in a note.
On the data front, retail sales in Japan increased 1.6 percent in February compared to one year ago, slightly missing a forecast of a 1.7 percent rise, Reuters reported.
