Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Investors Hub
Asian stocks finished broadly lower on Friday as uncertainty about the U.S. tax reform plan dented investor sentiment and boosted demand for safe-haven assets such as gold and the Japanese yen.
Japanese shares led regional decliners, with a stronger yen and losses by technology stocks weighing on the markets. The Nikkei 225 Index fell 187.29 points or 0.8 percent to 22,681.42, while the broader Topix Index closed 0.7 percent lower at 1,800.44.
Fanuc, Tokyo Electron and Advantest lost around 2 percent, and Toshiba plummeted 5.1 percent on equity dilution worries. Tire maker Bridgestone Corp slumped 7.7 percent after slashing its full-year operating profit forecast.
Australian shares retreated from nearly 10-year highs set in the previous session as weak commodity prices pulled down mining and energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 20.05 points or 0.3 percent to finish at 6,029.37, snapping a three-day winning streak. The broader All Ordinaries Index ended down 18.10 points or 0.3 percent at 6,104.30.
Miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto lost about 2 percent each after a reversal in Chinese iron ore futures on Thursday. Energy stocks such as Woodside Petroleum, Oil Search and Santos declined 1-3 percent.
On the other hand, News Corp soared 4.6 percent after the publishing arm of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire reported first-quarter EBITDA that nearly doubled from last year.
Online real-estate advertiser REA Group advanced 1.7 percent as it reported a 24 percent increase in September quarter earnings from core operations.
In its quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy, the Reserve Bank of Australia projected inflation to rise slightly to 2.25 percent in the year ending December 2018 from an estimated 2 percent in the year to December 2017.
Meanwhile, China’s Shanghai Composite Index inched up 5.56 points or 0.2 percent to 3,433.35 after reports that China is considering expanding corporate tax cuts for high-tech service companies. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged down 15.65 points or 0.1 percent to 29,120.92.
