Stock market today: Asian shares mostly decline after mixed Wall Street finish
Asian shares are mostly lower after a mixed finish on Wall Street, although export-related Tokyo stocks got a boost from a strengthening dollar
TOKYO — Asian shares mostly declined Friday, after a mixed finish on Wall Street, although export-related Tokyo stocks got a boost from a strengthening dollar.
Benchmarks rose in Tokyo but fell in Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
The yen has weakened amid speculation that the Bank of Japan might go slowly on changing its lax policy stance as it assesses the impact of Monday’s major earthquake in central Japan.
The U.S. dollar rose to 145.23 Japanese yen from 144.63 yen. The euro fell to $1.0930 from $1.0947.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.3% to 33,377.42.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.9% to 16,490.92, while the Shanghai Composite sank 1% to 2,926.32.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed nearly 0.1% to 7,489.10. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.4% to 2,578.08.
A weak yen is a boon for Japanese exporters, like the automakers, because it boosts the value of their overseas earnings. Toyota Motor Corp. stock gained 2.5% while Honda Motor Co. added 2.2%.
“Sentiments are back on some wait-and-see, given that we may have to see a substantial weakening of the U.S. labor market to justify market pricing of a rate cut,” Yeap Jun Rong, a market analyst at IG, said in a commentary.
Wall Street stocks finished mixed, carrying the weak start for 2024 into a third day.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% to 4,688.68 and is on track for its first losing week in the last 10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain of less than 0.1%, to 37,440.34, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.6% to 14,510.30.
Walgreens Boots Alliance sank 5.1% after it nearly halved its dividend so it could hold onto more
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