Asia-Pacific markets were mixed as banking fears were reignited on Wall Street, sending the three major U.S. indexes into a four day losing streak. Regional bank shares sold off, with the SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF (KRE) dropping more than 5% and some banks seeing volatile trading.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 erased earlier losses and rose 0.37% to close at 7,220 as investors digested the Reserve Bank of Australia’s statement on monetary policy.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.38%, leading gains in the region. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite slipped by 0.48% to close at 3,334.5 and the Shenzhen Component fell 0.83% to end at 11,180.87.
China’s Caixin services purchasing managers index for April slipped to 56.4 from March’s reading of 57.8 but remained in expansion while the Caixin manufacturing PMI fell into contraction territory.
Markets in Japan and South Korea were closed for a holiday.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.86%, while the S&P 500 slid 0.72% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.49%. The Dow turned negative for the year on Thursday, pulling back 0.06% year to date.
