Asian shares came under pressure early on Friday after Wall Street closed mixed and yields on US government debt rose in the last session.

Share Market Live

NSE

Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 0.75 percent after snapping a six-day losing streak in the previous session. Technology names were mostly lower, with heavyweight SoftBank falling 0.95 percent.

Among other large cap names, Fanuc Manufacturing shed 0.2 percent and Fast Retailing lost 1.59 percent. Airlines were also lower on the day, with ANA Holdings down 3.64 percent in the morning.

Shares of Nomura Holdings were down 2.04 percent, underperforming other financials, after the company announced third-quarter earnings on Thursday. Net income for the quarter rose around 25 percent on year to 88 billion yen ($804.8 million).

Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi fell 0.96 percent as declines in blue chip tech names drove the index lower. Samsung Electronics lost 2.73 percent, SK Hynix declined 1.61 percent and Samsung SDI fell 3.47 percent following the release of tech earnings stateside overnight.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 reversed early losses to edge higher by 0.2 percent. The energy and gold sectors were among the best-performing in the early going, climbing 1.76 percent and 1.34 percent, respectively. The heavily-weighted financials sub-index edged up 0.36 percent.

On the earnings front, notable names due to report results include Sony, Honda Motor and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

US stocks ended the last session mostly lower following a session of choppy trade, which also saw bond yields climb. On Thursday, the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond crossed the 3 percent level for the first time since May while the 10-year yield rose as high as 2.792 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 0.14 percent, or 37.32 points, to close at 26,186.71. Other major indexes eased slightly.

Investors stateside also digested the Thursday release of lower-than-expected fourth-quarter US productivity figures. Ahead, markets will be keeping an eye on the release of US nonfarm payrolls numbers due during US hours.

Currency watch

In currencies, the dollar held onto overnight gains against the yen to trade at 109.42 at 8:31 a.m. HK/SIN.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, slid below the 89 handle to trade at 88.671 on Thursday. The move came as the euro rose to trade above the USD 1.25 level. On Friday, the common currency stood at USD 1.2502 after rising as high as USD 1.2522 overnight.

Meanwhile, oil prices extended gains: US crude futures rose 0.73 percent to trade at USD 66.27 per barrel. Brent crude, which had yet to trade, gained 1.1 percent to settle at USD 69.65 on Thursday.

Corporate news

New York-listed Alibaba announced Thursday that third-quarter revenue rose 56 percent, which was above what analysts were forecasting. The e-commerce giant said in a statement that it would take on a 33 percent stake in its payments arm, Ant Financial.

First Published:Feb 2, 2018 7:35 AM IST