By Mia Lamar
Asian shares traded lower on Friday giving way to rising
political uncertainties in the U.S. and putting Japan's benchmark
Nikkei briefly below the 14,000 mark for the first time in nearly a
month.
A partial government shutdown in the U.S. dragged on for the
third day Thursday as lawmakers remained at an impasse over funding
for the country's budget. The standoff comes just weeks before a
crucial deadline to raise the nation's borrowing limit -- a measure
which also must be approved by lawmakers.
"Creeping worries about the U.S. debt ceiling are starting to
unnerve investors," said Mike Jones, a currency strategist at the
Bank of New Zealand in Wellington.
Asian markets have been mostly resilient in the wake of the
shutdown. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 , down 0.3% Friday, has
closed higher in each session since the U.S. government shuttered
on Tuesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index , down 0.5% Friday, had
gained nearly 2% since reopening from the National Day holiday
Tuesday.
Gold prices remained at odds with the asset's traditional
safe-haven status on Friday. Spot gold prices slipped to $1,316.10
an ounce in Asian trading.
"This uncertainty should have been good for gold and yet it has
failed to rally," said Kelly Teoh, market strategist at IG in
Singapore. The performance "suggests investors don't expect this
shutdown to go on for an extended period of time."
A 2.4% decline in China Mobile Ltd. shares, which carry the
second-largest weighting on the Hang Seng Index, accounted for
nearly a third of the index's loss. Reports in mainland news media
on Thursday suggested China's telecom regulator may cut by half
interconnection fees other carriers pay to China Mobile, the
country's largest wireless carrier.
Japan's Nikkei was down 0.4% in afternoon trade in Tokyo,
recovering from a brief dip below the 14,000 mark earlier in the
session. The U.S. dollar wavered between gains and losses, last
changing hands at Yen97.24 compared with Yen97.12 late Thursday in
New York.
Shares of electronics manufacturers Panasonic Corp. and Sharp
Corp. each traded roughly 3% lower as the yen fluctuated between
strength and weakness. A stronger yen increases price competition
with overseas rivals.
Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore's Straits Times Index was flat and
South Korea's Kospi fell 0.5%.
U.S. stocks fell across the board on Thursday. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJI) closed down 0.9% at 14,996 and the S&P
500 index (SPX) fell 0.9% to 1,679.
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