A day after settling with notable gains, Asian equity indices are displaying subdued trends in Friday trades with most markets in the region remaining in close proximity with their previous closing levels. Sentiments remained cautious following the mixed overnight closing on Wall Street and also as investors in the region are eagerly awaiting the highly anticipated monthly US non-farm payrolls report for some near-term guidance. Meanwhile, mining stocks in the region got a boost on reports of Glencore, the world's biggest commodities trader, being in talks to buy mining giant Xstrata to create an $88 billion commodities trading and mining giant. On one hand, Greek debt swap negotiations lingered for yet another session, keeping hopes of a deal alive while on the other, Fed Chairman voiced his concerns over the uncertainty surrounding European banks as he said that it was one of the factors dampening US business investment.
The benchmarks in China and Hong Kong traded on a weak note with marginal cuts after reports underscored the fact that growth of China's non-manufacturing sector slowed in January, as indicated by the drop in services PMI. The equity index in South Korea too slipped lower with shipbuilders falling on the back of weak quarterly earnings announcement.
Shanghai Composite slipped 3.31 points or 0.14% to 2,309.24, Hang Seng dropped 33.21 points or 0.16% to 20,706.24, Nikkei 225 declined 22.56 points or 0.25% to 8,854.26 and Seoul Composite shed 10.41 points or 0.52% to 1,973.89.
On the flipside, Jakarta Composite rose 4.20 points or 0.10% to 4,021.10, Straits Times climbed 21.25 points or 0.73% to 2,922.29 and Taiwan Weighted added 10.58 points or 0.14% to 7,663.04.
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