Asian share markets were mixed on Thursday after tumbling more than 1.0 per cent on the first trading day of 2019.
Apple downgraded its sales projections, citing slowing Chinese growth, hitting technology shares in South Korea and Taiwan.
The Japanese yen, seen as a relatively safe asset, strengthened against the dollar, euro and several other Asian and European currencies, reports AP.
South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.2 per cent to 2,007.06 and Taiwan’s benchmark fell 0.5 per cent. The Shanghai Composite index was flat at 2,465.36, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.3 per cent at 25,058.69.
Australia’s S&P-ASX 200 rebounded 1.4 per cent to 5,632.80. Shares fell in Taiwan and Singapore but rose in Indonesia and the Philippines. Japan’s markets were closed.
The S&P 500 index added 0.1 per cent to 2,510.03 on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which lost 398 points in the first few minutes of trading, closed 0.1 per cent higher at 23,346.24.
The Nasdaq composite rose 0.5 per cent to 6,665.94. The Dow future contract was down 1.4 per cent early Thursday and that for the S&P 500 lost 1.3 per cent.
Oil prices, which have fallen about 40 per cent since last October, settled after jumping at the start of the year.
Benchmark US crude shed 83 cents to $45.71 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped 2.5 per cent to $46.54 per barrel on Wednesday.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 43 cents to $54.48 per barrel. It added 2.1 per cent to $54.91 per barrel in London.
The dollar weakened to 107.16 yen from 108.86 late Wednesday. The euro rose to $1.1366 from $1.1344.
