Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Friday after stocks pulled back from their recent record highs on Wall Street as bond yields fell and investors turned cautious. Benchmarks fell in Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Shanghai, but rose in Hong Kong.
US futures were higher and the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose to 1.33 percent. On Thursday it fell to 1.30 percent, its lowest level since February. It recently was trading at 1.74 percent.
Traders have been shifting money into bonds in the past few weeks, pulling down the benchmark yield, which is used to set rates on mortgages and many other kinds of loans.
The TAIEX on Friday fell 1.15 percent to 17,661.48 points, down 0.3 percent for the week.
South Korea’s KOSPI on Friday declined 1.1 percent to 3,217.95, bringing its weekly loss to 1.9 percent.
Investors are gauging the potential impact from COVID-19 variants stymying a resurgence in commerce and travel. In South Korea and Japan, authorities have tightened pandemic precautions to counter fresh outbreaks of COVID-19.
Fans also have been banned from the Tokyo Olympics, which begin later this month, amid a state of emergency aimed at containing rising infections in the capital.
Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 on Friday gave up 0.9 percent to 7,273.30, down 0.5 percent weekly.
The Shanghai Composite Index on Friday edged less than 0.1 percent lower to 3,524.09, but still eked out a 0.15 percent weekly gain.
India’s SENSEX on Friday lost 0.35 percent to 52,386.19, losing 0.2 percent for the week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.7 percent to 27,344.54, but was down 3.4 percent for the week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 pared losses that had pushed it toward a correction following the country’s decision to declare another state of emergency in Tokyo to contain the continued virus spread.
The blue-chip measure fell 0.6 percent at the 3pm close in Tokyo, after sliding as much as 2.5 percent and briefly extending its drop from a February peak to more than 10 percent.
The broader TOPIX was 5 percent below its March high. It fell 0.4 percent on Friday, bringing its weekly loss to 2.3 percent
“Stocks were oversold a bit,” Resona Asset Management chief strategist Mamoru Shimode said. “On technicals, the Nikkei 225 touched its 200-day moving average, so we’re at a phase where you’ve got to see some rebound.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
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