MANILA, Philippines (news agencies) — Asian shares were mixed on Friday after U.S. stocks climbed further into record heights as the clock ticks on President Donald Trump’s July 9 tariff deadline.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% to 39,762.20 after earlier gains, while South Korea’s KOSPI index was down 1.2% to 3,078.31.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.6% to 23,914.44 while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.4% to 3,475.24. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% to 8,609.50. India’s Sensex index was up 0.1% to 83,288.73.
“Asian markets slipped into Friday like someone entering a dark alley with one eye over their shoulder — because while US equities danced higher on a sweet spotted post-payroll sugar rush, the mood in Asia was far less celebratory. The reason? That familiar, twitchy unease every time Trump gets near the tariff trigger,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, wrote in a commentary.
On Thursday, after a report showed a U.S. job market stronger than Wall Street expected, the S&P 500 rose 0.8% and set an all-time high for the fourth time in five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 344 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%.
Many of Trump’s stiff proposed taxes on imports are currently on pause, but they’re scheduled to kick in next week unless Trump reaches deals with other countries to lower them.
In other dealings on Friday, U.S. benchmark crude was down 19 cents to $68.81 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 30 cents to $68.50 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar slid to 144.48 Japanese yen from 144.92 yen. The euro edged higher to $1.1771 from $1.1761.
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news agencies Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
