Asia-Pacific shares struggle for direction in mixed trading day

Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Friday morning trade following an overnight drop on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.63% in morning trade while the Topix index shed 0.39%. Earlier, the Nikkei 225 had fallen more than 1%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.23%. Mainland Chinese stocks nudged higher, with the Shanghai composite rising fractionally while the Shenzhen component gained 0.262%.

Shares in Australia also edged lower as the S&P/ASX 200 dipped slightly. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.22% higher. Investors will continue to monitor the coronavirus situation in India, on Friday, after more than 310,000 new daily infections were registered on Thursday.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 321.41 points to close at 33,815.90. The S&P 500 declined 0.92% to finish its trading day at 4,134.98 while the Nasdaq Composite closed 0.94% lower at 13,818.41. The losses stateside came after reports from multiple outlets, including Bloomberg News and The New York Times, that U.S. President Joe Biden is seeking an increase in the tax on capital gains to 39.6% from 20% for Americans earnings more than $1 million.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.227 — off levels below 91.2 seen earlier in the week. The Japanese yen traded at 107.94 per dollar, still stronger than levels above 108.4 against the greenback seen earlier this week.
Asia-Pacific shares struggle for direction in mixed trading day, CNBC, Apr 23