SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mostly lower in Friday trade as investors watched bond yields as well as technology stocks in the region.
Mainland Chinese stocks declined by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite shedding 0.34% while the Shenzhen component slipped 0.115%. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced the world’s second-largest economy would target growth of over 6% for 2021.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.61% while the Topix index was fractionally higher. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.49%.
Meanwhile, stocks in Australia also declined, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 0.8%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares shed 0.56%.
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Tech stocks mixed
Technology stocks in Asia were mixed in Friday trade.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech firms were mixed by the afternoon: Tencent shed 0.14% while Xiaomi fell 3.15%. Meanwhile, Meituan was fractionally higher and Alibaba gained 0.18%.
Shares of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group slipped 0.5% while South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix declined 1.41%.
Those moves came after the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.11% to 12,723.47 on Thursday — turning negative for 2021.
The S&P 500 closed 1.34% lower at 3,768.47 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 345.95 points to finish its trading day at 30,924.14.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.65 following a rise from levels below 91.2.
The Japanese yen traded at 108.02 per dollar, weaker than levels below 107.4 against the greenback seen yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7709, off levels around $0.783 seen earlier in the week.
Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.96% to $67.38 per barrel. U.S. crude futures rose 0.89% to $64.40 per barrel.
Source: CNBC