Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Friday, after a mostly flat day on Wall Street, though a fresh S&P record closing and upbeat US employment data underpinned sentiment. Meanwhile, the Japanese stock market advanced, with a weaker yen triggering some buying in the technology and automobile sectors. On the economic front, consumer prices in Japan were up 3.6 percent on year in June that topped forecasts for 3.5 percent, also slowing from 3.7 percent in May. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai and South Korea are modestly higher, while Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan are trading lower.
Hang Seng slipped 12.12 points or 0.05% to 24,129.38, Straits Times declined by 8.84 points or 0.26% to 3,345.05, Jakarta Composite dropped by 19.26 points or 0.38% to 5,079.38, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI tumbled by 8.09 points or 0.43% to 1,868.96 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 81.49 points or 0.86% to 9,446.05.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 soared 86.00 points or 0.56% to 15,370.42, KOSPI Index increased by 5.85 points or 0.29% to 2,032.47 and Shanghai Composite was up by 10.47 points or 0.50% to 2,115.53.