ASIA MARKETS: Asian Markets Pull Back Following Wall Street's Losses

Chip makers take a hit in Japan, South Korea

Global equities remained under selling pressure on Friday with Japan's benchmark index leading declines in Asia, tracking overnight weakness on Wall Street on concerns over the U.S. tax-overhaul plan.

Key U.S. stock indexes slid as the U.S. Senate's plan to push through a different tax proposal than what the House of Representatives released last week caused some investors to question the Republicans' ability to get a bill through to the White House.

The Nikkei Stock Average was down 1.4%, adding to Thursday's declines, following the market's recent strong run that saw the index close at a 25-year high on Wednesday. Stocks in Tokyo were also hit by further gains in the yen, with the U.S. dollar trading at around Yen113.31, compared with Yen113.59 at Thursday's stock-market close.

"Investors are slowly unwinding their expectations from the Trump tax bill," said Margaret Yang, market analyst at CMC Markets. Given the significant run-up in global shares over the past few weeks, traders took cues to take profit, she said.

Chip-maker stocks led Friday's declines in Tokyo, extending weakness from the previous session, after technology giant Qualcomm (QCOM) signed significant, but preliminary deals with three Chinese companies to supply components.

The tie-ups fueled fears that other companies in the region that rely on Qualcomm's patents to develop and make chips would be at a disadvantage.

Shares of Renesas Electronics (6723.TO) and Rohm (6963.TO) were down about 1% after opening down around 2.5% each. In Korea, the Kospi index was down 0.4%, with Samsung Electronics (005930.SE) dropping as much as 1% and chip maker SK Hynix (000660.SE) losing as much as 1.7%.

Elsewhere, Shanghai's benchmark index was off 0.3%, while Taiwan's Taiex also lost 0.3%.

However, Hong Kong shares reversed early losses, and the Hang Seng Index was last trading up 0.1%, led by a 3.7% jump in Apple supplier AAC Tech (2018.HK) , which plans to release January-September earnings later Friday. Analysts expect the company to present another set of robust results. Also, blue-chip insurer Ping An (2318.HK) rose 1.3% to a fresh intraday record.

Meanwhile, Australia's benchmark index was down 0.4%, with BHP Billiton (BHP.AU) and Rio Tinto (RIO) both falling 2.3%, likely on profit-taking following their double-digit gains so far this year.

The S&P/ASX 200 reached its highest level since 2008 this week after rising 4% in October, its best month this year. It had lagged behind the region throughout 2017.

"The rally [in Australia] doesn't have substance behind it," with momentum from international markets carrying it higher, said Shane Chanel, an equities adviser at ASR Wealth Advisers.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6%. Technology stocks in the S&P 500 , the best-performing sector of the year so far, fell 0.9% on Thursday.

In commodities, oil futures were weaker in Asian trade following a modest rebound overnight. Futures contracts for Brent and Nymex were trading down around 0.2%.

Also, energy stocks in the region faced selling pressure, with Santos (SSLTY) and Oil Search (OSH.AU) in Australia down 3.3% and 1.1%, respectively. Japan Petroleum (1662.TO) off 1.1% in Tokyo.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 09, 2017 22:44 ET (03:44 GMT)