HONG KONG: Asian stock markets were mostly lower Friday as uncertainty about the progress of a sweeping U.S. tax revamp outweighed an optimistic Japanese economic survey.
KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.9 percent to 22,498.85 while South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.4 percent to 2,478.37. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1 percent to 28,887.09 and the Shanghai Composite in mainland China lost 0.6 percent to 3,272.00. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 sank 0.2 percent to 5,998.30.
JAPAN SURVEY: Corporate sentiment in Asia’s second biggest economy is at an 11-year high, according to a quarterly survey. The Bank of Japan’s “tankan” business outlook based on a poll of more than 10,000 companies posted its strongest reading since the end of 2006, in the latest sign that the economy is picking up momentum.
TAXING TIME: President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion U.S. tax overhaul was teetering on a knife-edge in the Senate, complicating Republican leaders’ goal of pushing it through Congress next week and unsettling investor confidence. Senator Marco Rubio vowed to vote against the bill, which gives generous tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy, unless child tax credits are expanded. The bill’s original version was approved by only 51-49, with Rubio’s support.
CENTRAL BANKING: Markets were digesting the impact of a raft of decisions by major global central banks over the previous day. The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate for the third time this year as anticipated and indicated three more hikes are in store next year. Policymakers in China and Hong Kong followed suit with their own increases while the European Central Bank and the Bank of England kept their main rates on hold, as expected.
WALL STREET: Major U.S. benchmarks ended lower. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.4 percent to close at 2,652.01. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.3 percent to 24,508.66. The Nasdaq shed 0.3 percent to 6,856.53.
CURRENCIES: The dollar weakened to 112.12 yen from 112.37 yen on Wednesday. The euro rose to $1.1790 from $1.1776.
ENERGY: Oil futures advanced. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 7 cents to $57.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 44 cents to close at $57.04 a barrel on Thursday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 4 cents to $63.35 per barrel in London.
