Asian shares slipped on Friday after US President Donald Trump said he doesn’t plan to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping before a tariffs truce ends in March.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was 1.6 per cent lower at 20,413.91. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave up 0.8 per cent to 27,757.40. The Kospi in South Korea declined 1.2 per cent to 2,177.04.
Australia’s S&P ASX 200 was down 0.4 per cent at 6,067.60, while stocks in the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore also fell but stocks rose in Malaysia.
However, the markets in China and Taiwan were closed, reports AP.
The broad S&P 500 index shed 0.9 per cent to 2,706.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.9 per cent lower at 25,169.53 and the Nasdaq composite slid 1.2 per cent to 7,288.35.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks dropped 0.8 per cent to 1,505.63.
US crude lost 29 cents to $52.35 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped $1.37 to settle at $52.64 per barrel in New York.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, retreated 23 cents to $61.40 per barrel. It fell $1.06 to close at $61.63 per barrel in London.
The dollar weakened to 109.76 yen from 109.82 yen late Thursday. The euro eased to $1.1339 from $1.1341.
