Most Asian markets lower; Nikkei erases gains, Kospi down 1.2%
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Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was off 0.1 percent, erasing earlier gains, and South Korea's Kospi extended losses, down 1.19 percent, after Yonhap broke news of a suspected nuclear test in North Korea after an earthquake was detected near a known nuclear testing site.
Asian markets were mostly lower after reports indicated an earthquake in North Korea was caused by an explosion, possibly from a nuclear test in the isolated nation. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was off 0.1 percent, erasing earlier gains, and South Korea's Kospi extended losses, down 1.19 percent, after Yonhap broke news of a suspected nuclear test in North Korea after an earthquake was detected near a known nuclear testing site.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 opened down 0.6 percent, dragged by losses in its heavily-weighted financials subindex, which slid 0.87 percent, but losses were offset by its energy sector rising 1.55 percent.
Chinese markets were nearly flat, with the Shanghai composite lower by 0.05 percent and the Shenzhen composite down 0.044 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 0.43 percent. Disappointment with the European Central Bank (ECB) decision to stand pat on policy also weighed shares around the region.
The ECB surprised markets by deciding not to extend the deadline of its bond-buying program. It also lowered its growth and inflation forecasts for 2017 and 2018. "Yesterday's no-change stance however does not diminish the need for further easing," Radhika Rao, an economist at DBS Bank, said in a note Friday, citing inflation data remaining well below the central bank's 2 percent target.
"But there was no explicit mention of fresh measures under consideration, spurring a knee-jerk negative reaction in the markets." On the data front, China's inflation in August grew at its slowest pace year-on-year since October 2015.
The August producer price index (PPI) rose 0.2 percent from the previous month, but fell 0.8 percent year-on-year, while the consumer price index (CPI) increased by 1.3 percent on-year, missing a Reuters poll forecast for a 1.7 percent rise.
In South Korea, the central bank held interest rates at 1.25 percent for the third straight month at its policy meeting, as expected, as it took a cautious approach to increasing household debt while awaiting the Fed's next move.
Oil prices soared more than 4 percent on Thursday after US Energy Information Administration said crude stockpiles dropped by 14.5 million barrels last week to 511.6 million barrels, the biggest weekly drop since January 1999, Reuters reported.
"The record drop is being further propelled by oil production disruptions from storms in the Gulf. Markets have realized that the lack of supply is real and fundamentally driven, which will help the oil price over the short-term at least," said Anthony Darvall, chief market strategist at trading platform easyMarkets, in a note Friday.
During Asia trade, the global benchmark Brent slipped 0.90 percent to USD49.54 a barrel at 9:46 a.m. HK/SIN, while US crude futures shed 0.82 percent to USD47.23.
Markets will also pay attention to Federal Reserve voting members Eric Rosengren and Daniel Tarullo, who were scheduled to speak later in the day, for hints on Fed rate expectations.
Major US indexes closed lower; the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.25 percent at 18,479.91, the S&P 500 finished lower by 0.22 percent at 2,181.3 and the Nasdaq composite ended down 0.46 percent, snapping a four-day winning streak as Apple slipped 2.6 percent.
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Asian markets were mostly lower after reports indicated an earthquake in North Korea was caused by an explosion, possibly from a nuclear test in the isolated nation. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was off 0.1 percent, erasing earlier gains, and South Korea's Kospi extended losses, down 1.19 percent, after Yonhap broke news of a suspected nuclear test in North Korea after an earthquake was detected near a known nuclear testing site.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 opened down 0.6 percent, dragged by losses in its heavily-weighted financials subindex, which slid 0.87 percent, but losses were offset by its energy sector rising 1.55 percent.
Chinese markets were nearly flat, with the Shanghai composite lower by 0.05 percent and the Shenzhen composite down 0.044 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 0.43 percent. Disappointment with the European Central Bank (ECB) decision to stand pat on policy also weighed shares around the region.
The ECB surprised markets by deciding not to extend the deadline of its bond-buying program. It also lowered its growth and inflation forecasts for 2017 and 2018. "Yesterday's no-change stance however does not diminish the need for further easing," Radhika Rao, an economist at DBS Bank, said in a note Friday, citing inflation data remaining well below the central bank's 2 percent target.
"But there was no explicit mention of fresh measures under consideration, spurring a knee-jerk negative reaction in the markets." On the data front, China's inflation in August grew at its slowest pace year-on-year since October 2015.
The August producer price index (PPI) rose 0.2 percent from the previous month, but fell 0.8 percent year-on-year, while the consumer price index (CPI) increased by 1.3 percent on-year, missing a Reuters poll forecast for a 1.7 percent rise.
In South Korea, the central bank held interest rates at 1.25 percent for the third straight month at its policy meeting, as expected, as it took a cautious approach to increasing household debt while awaiting the Fed's next move.
Oil prices soared more than 4 percent on Thursday after US Energy Information Administration said crude stockpiles dropped by 14.5 million barrels last week to 511.6 million barrels, the biggest weekly drop since January 1999, Reuters reported.
"The record drop is being further propelled by oil production disruptions from storms in the Gulf. Markets have realized that the lack of supply is real and fundamentally driven, which will help the oil price over the short-term at least," said Anthony Darvall, chief market strategist at trading platform easyMarkets, in a note Friday.
During Asia trade, the global benchmark Brent slipped 0.90 percent to USD49.54 a barrel at 9:46 a.m. HK/SIN, while US crude futures shed 0.82 percent to USD47.23.
Markets will also pay attention to Federal Reserve voting members Eric Rosengren and Daniel Tarullo, who were scheduled to speak later in the day, for hints on Fed rate expectations.
Major US indexes closed lower; the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.25 percent at 18,479.91, the S&P 500 finished lower by 0.22 percent at 2,181.3 and the Nasdaq composite ended down 0.46 percent, snapping a four-day winning streak as Apple slipped 2.6 percent.
