Shares in Asia slipped on Friday as a deteriorating global economic outlook outweighed further signs of progress in trade talks between China and the United States.
Asian Shares
- MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.1 percent.
- Chinese blue-chip shares were down 0.1 percent.
- Seoul’s Kospi lost 0.3 percent.
- Shares in Taiwan were also 0.3 percent lower.
- Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.4 percent
- Australian shares gained 0.4 percent.
Currency Market
The Australian dollar rebounded after tumbling more than 1 percent Thursday on a Reuters report that China’s northern port of Dalian has placed an indefinite ban on imports of Australian coal.
- Aussie was last up 0.06 percent at $0.7092.
- The euro inched slightly higher to buy $1.1337.
- The U.S. dollar edged up against the yen to 110.73.
- The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was steady at 96.602.
Commodities
In the commodity market, crude prices rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday to their highest in 2019 on hopes that oil markets will balance later this year.
- U.S. crude dipped 0.2 percent to $56.85 a barrel.
- Brent crude also shed 0.2 percent to $66.92.
- Spot gold trading up about 0.2 percent at $1,326.30 per ounce.
Bond
- The 10-year Treasury notes edged lower to 2.6842 percent Friday.
- The two-year yield, watched as a gauge of expectations of higher Fed fund rates, eased to 2.5224 percent from a U.S. close of 2.529 percent.
