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Asian markets fall after previous day’s rally

Asian markets mostly fell on Friday as profit-taking after the previous day’s rallies overshadowed another strong performance on Wall Street.

Tokyo fell 1.43 percent, or 125.68 points, to 8,669.87, Sydney was 0.18 percent, or 7.6 points, lower at 4,199.1, while Seoul was virtually unchanged, nudging down 0.03 points to 1,822.93.

In the afternoon Hong Kong was down 0.10 percent and Shanghai had eased 0.55 percent.

Shares on Japan’s Nikkei remained under pressure after the yen strengthened in New York against the greenback while it continued to stay strong against the euro.

And Shanghai was pressured after reports that China has ordered local governments to strictly implement property control measures and rectify easing policies that have been introduced after a rebound in prices in June.

Dealers took the last day of the week to cash in after Thursday’s advances that came in the wake of hopes for another US stimulus drive as well as strong corporate results.

On Wall Street, shares enjoyed a third day of gains on Thursday thanks to upbeat earnings figures from some of the country’s biggest firms.

IBM posted better-than-expected quarterly profits and raised its full-year estimate, while online auction house eBay said its profit more than doubled in the April-June period.

While Washington reported weak jobs and housing data, dealers seemed to be unfazed owing to expectations of more stimulus measures to prop up the world’s biggest economy.

The Labor Department reported 386,000 initial jobless claims were filed in the week ending July 14, an almost 10 percent increase from the prior week’s upwardly revised figure and well above expectations of a rise to 365,000.

And the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing or previously occupied homes fell 5.4 percent in June from May, instead of an expected rise.

The Dow climbed 0.27 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.27 percent and the Nasdaq rose 0.79 percent.

On currency markets the dollar bought 78.60 yen, firming from 78.59 yen in New York Thursday, when it slipped 0.3 percent against the Japanese unit on the back of the weak economic data.

The euro was at $1.2255 and 96.33 yen in Tokyo, compared with $1.2282 and 96.43 yen in New York.

However, concerns remain over Europe, where a Spanish bond auction Thursday resulted in sharply higher borrowing costs and lower demand, pushing rates on the secondary market up towards the seven-percent level seen as unsustainable.

Dealers were unmoved by the widely expected approval by Germany’s parliament of a European aid package for Spain’s banks that aims to prevent the country’s economy from going under.

Spain is hoping to get a first slice of 30 billion euros by the end of the month and has in turn agreed to a raft of banking sector reforms and EU inspections to ensure the restructuring process is effective.

Crude oil prices were lower. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, shed 56 cents to $92.10 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for delivery in September slid 45 cents to $107.35.

Gold was at $1,582.30 an ounce at 0620 GMT, from $1,584.20 on Thursday.

In other markets:

• Taipei gained 0.23 percent, or 16.11 points, to 7,164.68.

Hon Hai Precision rose 1.47 percent to Tw$89.6 while TSMC fell 1.03 percent to Tw$76.7.

• Wellington closed 0.63 percent, or 22.07 points, to 3,463.70.

Air New Zealand was 2.20 percent off at NZ$0.89 while Telecom dropped 0.99 percent to NZ$2.51.