Asian stocks shrugged off a solid overnight performance by Wall Street and closed lower on Friday with investors again consolidating on the back of recent gains.
A slew of US economic data and a meeting of the Federal Reserve, all due next week, also held investors in the wings and limited trade. This left most market players to focus on domestic issues.
Tokyo ended six days of gains, which pushed the benchmark to a seven-year high, and shed 0.28 percent. Seoul fell 1.3 percent amid government warnings the market was overheating after striking record highs.
Shanghai was the worst on the day with a 3.29 percent tumble as fears the government will again move to cool its markets returned.
TAIPEI
Shares closed down 0.38 percent yesterday, although bargain-hunting toward the close managed to trim early losses in tandem with the overnight downturn on Wall Street, dealers said.
The local bourse had a special session to make up for the trading holiday on Monday for the annual Dragon Boat Festival.
The TAIEX closed down 33.48 points at 8,812.91, on turnover of NT$118.19 billion (US$3.58 billion).
Risers led decliners 588 to 563, with 205 stocks unchanged.
"The Wall Street pullback had no more than a muted impact mainly because people still believed in a local liquidity run going forward," Mega International Investment Services (
Likewise, the timely contraction of turnover pointed to investor reluctance to sell down holdings excessively, he said.
TOKYO
Share prices lost 0.28 percent, snapping a six-day winning streak as market players took profits after the benchmark index hit a seven-year high.
Dealers said the market continued to be encouraged by the weak yen, which boosts exporters, but had little incentive to push share prices further in the absence of major new factors.
The NIKKEI-225 index fell 51.67 points to 18,188.63. Volume traded slipped to 1.95 billion shares from 2.23 billion shares on Thursday.
HONG KONG
Share prices closed up 0.21 percent with the key index ending just a tad below 22,000 points after breaking that historic level during the day.
Dealers said the market see-sawed as investors locked in profits with falls on the mainland bourses also acting as a dampener before the benchmark closed firmer, at a record high, for a sixth straight session.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 45.24 points at 21,999.91.
SEOUL
Share prices closed 1.3 percent lower after the government promised to take measures to reduce liquidity amid concerns over possible overheating.
The KOSPI index closed down 23.26 points at 1,770.98.
SHANGHAI
Share prices fell 3.29 percent amid concerns the government may announce new measures over the weekend to cool the nation's booming economy.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 139.38 points at 4,091.45.
SYDNEY
Share prices closed little changed, slipping back on selective profit-taking as investors opted not to follow Wall Street's firmer lead overnight.
The key S&P/ASX 200 closed off 4.4 points at 6,382.6.
SINGAPORE
Share prices closed 0.66 percent lower with profit-taking in blue chips and investors locking in gains following the recent record-breaking run.
The Straits Times Index fell 24.11 points to 3,615.38 on volume of 4.47 billion shares.
KUALA LUMPUR
Share prices closed 0.26 percent higher in volatile trade, with late buying of big-caps boosting the key index to its fourth successive all-time high.
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