HONG KONG — Asian shares fell on Friday, following Wall Street’s decline in response to the possible decline discouraging data on the economy.
US futures and oil prices were little changed.
Chinese leaders concluded a two-day economy policy meeting Thursday in Beijing. Investors were hoping for big steps to support the economy, but results from closed-door meetings of top leaders lacked details. State media reported that leaders agreed to increase government borrowing to finance more spending and ease credit to encourage more investment and spending.
“Chinese authorities are stuck in a more reactionary policy as uncertainty over US tariff plans makes it difficult for policymakers to make commitments now,” IG’s Yeap Jun Rong said in a commentary.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.7% to 20,057.69, and the Hang Seng Properties index lost 3%. The Shanghai Composite index lost 1.5% to 3,410.99.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% to 39,360.43 in morning trading. A Bank of Japan survey showed that business confidence among major Japanese manufacturers was stronger than expected in the fourth quarter of this year.
Elsewhere in Asia, the Australian S&The P/ASX 200 lost 0.5% to 8,292.40. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% to 2,497.61.
On Thursday the S&The P500 fell 0.5% to 6,051.25, marking its fourth loss in the past six days. The index was rising towards one of its best years of the millennium.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5% to 43,914.12, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.7% to 19,902.84.
More American workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than expected, according to a report. A separate update, meanwhile, showed that wholesale inflation, before it reaches U.S. consumers, was higher than economists expected last month.
Neither report sounds alarm bells, but they do dilute hopes that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut rates. The S has that expectation&P500 to 57 all-time highs so far this yeardriven by the fact that inflation is slowing, while the economy is solid enough to stay out of recession.
Traders widely expect the Fed to cut its key interest rate at next week’s meeting. That would be a third consecutive rate cut by the Fed started cutting interest rates in September from a two-decade high. It hopes one slowing labor market after inflation was almost completely reduced to the 2% target.
Lower rates would boost the economy and investment prices, but they could also provide more fuel for inflation.
A cut next week would cause the Fed to follow other central banks. The European Central Bank cuts interest rates fell by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday, as many investors expected, and the Swiss National Bank cut its policy rate by an even steeper half of a percentage point.
Following its decision, the Swiss central bank highlighted the uncertainty about how the victory of newly-elected US President Donald Trump will affect economic policy, as well as the direction of politics in Europe.
Trump has spoken out rates and other policies that could disrupt world trade. He called the bell marking the start of trading at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday with chants of “USA.”
In other trades early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude rose 8 cents to $70.10 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 6 cents to $73.47 a barrel.
The US dollar rose from 152.55 yen to 153.06 Japanese yen. The euro fell from $1.0472 to $1.0462.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.