Asia Shares Fall Nearly 1% As Weak Results Halt Bull Run On Wall Street

Tokyo/Singapore: Asian stocks dipped on Friday after weak corporate results halted Wall Street's record run overnight, while the yen held to large gains made after the Bank of Japan governor downplayed the need for "helicopter money" stimulus. European markets are also likely to open lower, with financial spreadbetter CMC Markets expecting Britain's FTSE 100 to open down 0.2 per cent, and Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 to start the day 0.4 per cent lower. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.4 per cent. It remained close to its nine-month high seen on Thursday, and is headed for a fractional 0.1 percent gain on the week, ahead of the Group of 20 finance officials' meeting in Chengdu, China, this weekend. China's CSI 300 index and the Shanghai Composite both slipped about 0.5 per cent. The CSI 300 is poised for a loss of 1.1 percent for the week, and the Shanghai Composite 1 per cent. New Zealand shares continued their record-setting trend, climbing 0.2 per cent to hit a fresh all-time high on Thursday. They're headed for a 2.2 per cent gain for the week. Shares in Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand all closed at their highest levels in at least a year on Thursday.Australia ended at the highest point since Aug. 6, 2015, and Hong Kong set a 2016 high. All were trading lower on Friday, but set to end the week higher. Japan's Nikkei closed down 1.1 per cent, dragged down by the yen's 1 per cent rally on Thursday. The index is still up 0.8 per cent in a week in which it touched an eight-week high thanks to an initially weaker yen and hopes of fiscal and monetary stimulus. In a BBC interview, recorded mid-June but broadcast on Thursday, BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda ruled out the idea of using "helicopter money" - directly underwriting the budget deficit - to combat deflation. "Pretty much everything is on the table when it comes to the next BOJ monetary policy decision on 29 July. Everything, that is, except for outright helicopter money," Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economic research at HSBC in Hong Kong, wrote in a note on Friday. "The case for more easing is evident, and markets are expecting swift and determined action." Japan is likely to miss its deficit-cutting target in 2018 because the government has delayed a sales tax hike by more than two years, public broadcaster NHK said on Friday, citing an unidentified source. The dollar was down 0.1 per cent at 105.68 yen after coming off its peak of 107.49, its highest in six weeks, the previous day. The dollar index was also flat at 96.948 , compared with its four-month peak of 97.323 scaled on Wednesday. The euro was steady at $1.1020 . The common currency had briefly risen to $1.1060 on Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi noted that growth and inflation were moving along the path projected in June. As widely anticipated, the ECB stood pat on monetary policy on Thursday. But, despite Draghi's statement that more evidence was needed before any decision, the bank kept the door open to more policy stimulus, citing "great" uncertainty and risks to the region's economic outlook. The Chinese yuan rose against the dollar for a fourth straight day, on track for its biggest weekly gain since April, with traders suspecting state-owned banks of supporting the currency. The People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.6669 per dollar, 0.3 per cent firmer than the previous fix of 6.6872. The spot yuan opened at 6.6715 per dollar and strengthened to 6.6692, compared with the previous close of 6.6765. The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday snapped a nine-day winning streak, during which it hit consecutive record highs, because of disappointing results from Intel and key transportation companies. In commodities, crude futures resumed declines after a brief spell higher, extending big falls overnight. Data pointed to record U.S. stockpiles of gasoline and other oil products, when Iraqi crude exports are on the rise, heightening supply glut concerns. Brent crude reversed earlier gains to fall 0.3 per cent to $46.07 a barrel after tumbling about two percent on Thursday. It is headed for a 3.3 per cent drop for the week. U.S. crude fell 0.6 per cent to $44.49 a barrel, poised for a 3.2 per cent fall in a week in which they touched a two-month low. The pull back in stocks and dollar gave gold a boost. .© Thomson Reuters 2016.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Asia Shares Fall Nearly 1% As Weak Results Halt Bull Run On Wall Street

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