Asian Shares Fall In Thin Holiday Trade

Asian stocks fell in thin holiday trade on Friday after Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. warned of uncertainty ahead due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Markets in South Korea, China, India, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand were closed for holidays.

Japanese shares fell from a near eight-week high, with chip-related firms pacing the declines.

The Nikkei average fell 574.34 points, or 2.84 percent, to 19,619.35 after gaining 2.6 percent the previous day. The broader Topix index closed 2.24 percent lower at 1,431.26.

Semiconductor-related stocks lost ground after the Philadelphia semiconductor index fell 3.7 percent overnight. Tokyo Electron gave up 5.5 percent, Screen Holdings slumped 6.1 percent and Advantest declined 5.6 percent.

In economic news, consumer prices in the Tokyo region were up 0.2 percent year-on-year in April, a government report showed – coming in below expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent and down from 0.4 percent in March. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, fell an annual 0.1 percent.

A measure of Japan’s consumer confidence weakened at a record pace in April, another report showed. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the consumer confidence index decreased to 21.6 in April from 30.9 in March.

The minutes from the Bank of Japan’s emergency meeting on March 16 showed that board members have voiced concerns about a cash squeeze for small firms, spiking unemployment and a slump in business spending.

Australian markets tumbled, dragged down by banks and miners after a survey showed the manufacturing sector in the country fell deep into contraction in April, reflecting the damage from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The AIG’s manufacturing PMI dropped to 35.8 from 53.7 in March, marking the worst pace of contraction since April 2009.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 plunged as much as 276.50 points, or 5.01 percent, to 5,245.90, while the broader All Ordinaries index slumped 272.70 points, or 4.87 percent, to 5,325.

Mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto plummeted 7.8 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively while smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group lost 8.2 percent. Gold miners Evolution Mining, Newcrest and Northern Star Resources gave up 8-9 percent after gold prices further extended losses overnight.

Beach Energy, Origin Energy, Woodside Petroleum, Oil Search and Santos lost 5-8 percent despite oil prices rising on a slower-than-expected rise in oil storage demand.

ResMed rallied 3.3 percent after the medical equipment provider reported a 55 percent surge in profit for the third quarter from last year.

New Zealand shares started the month on a downbeat note after having scored their biggest monthly gain in four years in April. The benchmark NZX-50 index dropped 83.06 points, or 0.79 percent, to 10,449.01 amid apprehensions surrounding the earnings and economic outlook.

Data out of South Korea showed that the country’s exports dived 24.3 percent year-on-year in April, marking the worst contraction since May 2009.

U.S. stocks ended lower overnight as a slew of economic data disappointed, corporate earnings proved to be a mixed bag and President Donald Trump said he could use tariffs to respond to China over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.2 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite eased 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 shed 0.9 percent.

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