Asian shares were mostly lower on Thursday after stocks wobbled on Wall Street. A dip in the dollar’s value against other currencies hit regional exporters’ shares.
The dollar sagged against other currencies after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the currency’s decline is good for US exporters, suggesting he isn’t likely to try to stop its slide.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 0.9 per cent to 23,723.60 and the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3 per cent to 3,548.93. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.1 per cent to 32,916.51, reports AP.
South Korea’s Kospi surged 0.9 per cent to 2,559.86 while the S&P/ ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.2 per cent to 6,042.60. Shares rose in Taiwan and Thailand but fell in Singapore and Indonesia.
The S&P 500 index lost 0.1 per cent to 2,837.54. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 per cent to 26,252.12 after seesawing throughout the day.
The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6 per cent to 7,415.06 while the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks skidded 0.7 per cent, to 1,599.61.
The dollar dropped to 109.14 yen from 109.22 yen late Wednesday. The euro advanced to $1.2421 from $1.2411. The ICE US dollar index fell almost 10 percent in 2017 and is down 3.0 per cent so far this year.
Benchmark US crude rose 53 cents to $66.14 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.14, or 1.8 per cent, to $65.61 a barrel on Wednesday.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 41 cents to $70.94 per barrel. It added 57 cents to $70.53 a barrel in London.