Asian shares mostly lower despite U.S. markets rally

Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press</span>
Published Thursday, October 25, 2018 11:42PM EDT
Last Updated Friday, October 26, 2018 12:03AM EDT

TOKYO -- Asian shares have turned lower after early gains, despite the overnight jump on Wall Street. Worries over corporate earnings, trade and the outlook for growth weighed on sentiment.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 1.1 per cent to 21,026.97 on Friday, while South Korea's Kospi plunged 2.6 per cent to 2,010.46. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.4 per cent to 5,640.60. Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1.5 per cent to 24,609.81 and the Shanghai Composite shed 0.5 per cent to 2,589.65. Shares rose in Indonesia but fell in Taiwan and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

WALL STREET: The rally wiped out a large part of the market's plunge from the day before. The S&P 500 index jumped 1.9 per cent to 2,705.57. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.6 per cent to 24,984.55 and the Nasdaq surged 3 per cent to 7,318.34 after its biggest drop in seven years.

MARKET WORRIES: Investors are worried that rising interest rates and disputes with trading partners could hurt economic growth and corporate profits. They get more insight into how the American economy is doing later in the day when the U.S. government reports on economic growth during the third quarter.

THE QUOTE: "Despite the relief stemming from gains on Wall Street, the leads are mixed for Asia into Friday," Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary. "One notable trend that would add to the pressure for Asia markets this morning had also been the strengthening greenback."

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 66 cents to $66.67 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 51 cents to $67.82 on Thursday. Brent crude, the benchmark for international oil prices, dipped 53 cents to $76.37.

CURRENCIES: The fell to 112.17 yen from 112.43 yen. The euro fell to $1.1367 from $1.1375.

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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay contributed to this report.

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