Investing.com - Asian shares traded mixed on Friday in a light regional data day and investors keyed into the next set of steps for U.S. economic policies as the Trump administration gears up its heaalthcare and tax cut plans.
Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.35% on Friday, while in South Korea, the Kospi rose 0.1% as the won weakened against the dollar. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Seoul on Friday as part of his tour of Asia. Tillerson said on Thursday in Japan that part of his visit was to find a "new approach" to deal with threats from North Korea.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.32%, while China's Shanghai composite was almost flat in early trade and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was also held steady.
Chinese group, the Global CEO Fortune Club, launched its first overseas fund on Thursday with an aim to invest in Australian infrastructure projects. The group expects to find opportunities for public-private partnership from its base in Melbourne.
Overnight, U.S. equities closed mostly lower on Thursday, as gains in Financials were offset by losses in health care, after President Trump’s budget blueprint proposed budget cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Healthcare stocks nosedived, as President Trump’s budget blueprint proposed cutting the NIH budget by $5.8 billion while Financials, mostly banks, traded tentatively higher after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates on Wednesday.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday, raised interest rates by 0.25% to a target range of 0.75% to 1% but kept its previous forecast of three rate increases this year unchanged.
Meanwhile economic data failed to lift sentiment while U.S. crude futures struggled to hold onto gains from the previous session.
Weekly initial jobless claims fell to 241,000. Housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.288 million in February while the Philadelphia Fed Index topped forecasts at 32.8 for March. Both the Philadelphia Fed Index and the housing starts beat forecasts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.07% lower at 20,934. The S&P 500 lost 0.16% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.01% to close at 5,900.