Most Asian stocks fell on Friday after Wall Street suffered a setback overnight and fresh signs of inventory buildup put further downward pressure on the already low prices. While positive home price data from China spurred some buying interest, the recovery quickly petered out following the Bank of Japan's policy decision.
Brent crude futures headed for a third weekly loss and gold held overnight losses while China's yuan was marginally firmer after weakening for the 10th session in a row against the dollar on Thursday, the longest weakening streak on record.
Chinese shares ended on a flat note after data showed China's home prices rose 0.9 percent in November, up from the previous month's reading of 0.1 percent, signaling further stabilization in the country's housing markets.
While the benchmark Shanghai Composite index closed marginally lower at 3,578.96, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 116.50 points or 0.53 percent to 21,755.56.
Japanese shares ended a choppy session lower after the Bank of Japan tweaked its bond-buying program. While keeping its main target for monetary stimulus unchanged at an annual pace of about 80 trillion yen, the Bank of Japan expanded the quantitative easing program to include exchange traded funds.
The Nikkei average climbed as much as 2.7 percent before reversing direction to end the session down 366.76 points or 1.90 percent at 18,986.80. The broader Topix index fell 1.76 percent to 1,537.10.
Canon, Panasonic, Fanuc, Honda Motor and Sony lost 1-3 percent as the yen seesawed before rising against major currencies in a knee-jerk reaction to the monetary policy announcement. Mobile carrier Softbank Corp shed 2.2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's largest bank, fell 2.3 percent.
Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings slumped 4.2 percent on reports it is in talks to acquire nursing care operator Message Co. Toshiba retreated 2.9 percent on reports it is considering spinning off its mainstay flash memory chip business as a separate company.
Australian shares erased early losses to end on a flat note. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 4.70 points or 0.09 percent to 5,106.70 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 5.90 points or 0.11 percent at 5,156.50.
Lender Commonwealth rose 1.1 percent and Westpac advanced 0.3 percent. Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto lost 1-2 percent after Goldman Sachs Group slashed iron ore forecasts. Gold miner Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining slumped 3-5 percent after gold prices fell the most in five months yesterday.
Energy stocks also closed broadly lower. Graincorp shares fell 2.3 percent after the company warned its grain business will be impacted by lower grain production this financial year.
Seoul shares snapped a three-day winning streak as oil prices resumed their slide. The benchmark Kospi average dropped 2.64 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 1,975.32. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell about 1 percent while oil refiner SK Innovation lost 2.6 percent. Samsung Engineering jumped over 6 percent on winning a contract to build a petrochemical plant in the United States.
In economic news, producer prices in South Korea fell 0.3 percent in November from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said, after a 0.7 percent contraction in October.
New Zealand shares rose after A2 Milk Co. raised its annual profit forecast, citing strong sales of its infant formula in China and Australia. While shares of the milk marketer soared 29 percent, the benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 19.51 points or 0.32 percent at 6,107.84.
Economic reports were upbeat, with a measure of business confidence in New Zealand ending 2015 at an eight-month high, while job ads increased for the third straight month in November.
Elsewhere, India's Sensex was down 0.6 percent, snapping a four-day winning streak. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index was losing 1.7 percent, Malaysia's KLSE Composite was down 0.6 percent, Singapore's Straits Times index was declining half a percent and the Taiwan Weighted shed 0.8 percent.
Indonesia's central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged for a tenth consecutive month in December. Taiwan's central bank cut interest rates for the second time in three months, opting to shore up growth in the island's recession-hit economy and take advantage of the calm market reaction to the first Fed rate hike in nearly a decade.
U.S. stocks fell on profit taking Thursday after a three-day winning streak, as oil prices resumed their slide and data on jobless claims and regional manufacturing activity painted a mixed picture of the economy. The Dow and the Nasdaq fell about 1.4 percent each, while the S&P 500 tumbled 1.5 percent.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.