
Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell Friday, with investors assessing November pay and household spending out from Japan.
Real household spending in Japan fell 0.4% year on year in November, a softer fall compared to the 0.6% decline expected by a Reuters poll of economists.
The fall was also less than the 1.3% decline seen in October.
The average real income per household stood at 514,409 yen ($3,252.98) in November, up 0.7% from the previous year
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.41% on its open, with the broad based Topix seeing a smaller loss of 0.27%.
South Korea's Kospi was the only outlier, gaining 0.21%, but the small cap Kosdaq was down 0.14%
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 reversed earlier gains to trade marginally below the flatline.
Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were last at 19,320, pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI's close of 19,240.89.
Overnight in the U.S., markets were closed on Thursday due to the funeral of former president Jimmy Carter, but traders will assess labor data on Friday stateside, with nonfarm payroll numbers for December.
Economists expect the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday morning to report a gain of 155,000 in nonfarm payrolls, a step down from the surprising 227,000 increase in November but about in keeping with the four-month average. The unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 4.2 (Cay) nwsmaker23
Source: CNBC
Tested EN...
Asian stock markets weakened for the second consecutive day, indicating that the initial rally that had been "speedy" at the start of the year is starting to lose steam. At the same time, US governmen...
US stocks were mixed on Wednesday as investors weighed uneven economic data against expectations for eventual Federal Reserve easing, with the S&P 500 easing 0.2% and the Dow Jones sliding 0.8% fr...
European stocks were in mixed territory on Wednesday morning, as regional market jitters grow over U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to annex Greenland. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was little chang...
Asian stock markets weakened slightly on Wednesday after posting their best start to the year in history. The decline was driven by a decline in Japanese stocks amid escalating tensions with China. Th...
Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more...
Gold prices weakened slightly on Thursday (February 12th), as more solid US employment data reduced market confidence in an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The strong employment data prompted market participants to shift expectations of...
The Hang Seng Index reversed its downward trend in Hong Kong on Thursday (February 12th), weakening by around 0.9% to around 27,000 after a strong session earlier. This decline halted the momentum of the short term rally, as investors began to...