A currency trader walks near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street as losses by technology and industrial companies offset other gains.
Screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won are seen at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street as losses by technology and industrial companies offset other gains.
A currency trader watches computer monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street as losses by technology and industrial companies offset other gains.
A currency trader walks near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street as losses by technology and industrial companies offset other gains.
FILE – This Nov. 23, 2020 file photo shows the New York Stock Exchange, right, in New York. Stocks are giving back some of their recent gains in early trading on Wall Street Wednesday, Feb. 17, not far below the record highs major indexes set in recent days.
FILE – A man walks past the New York Stock Exchange during a snowstorm, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in New York. Stocks are opening broadly lower on Wall Street and Treasury yields continued to climb. The S&P 500 index gave up 0.8% in the first few minutes of trading Thursday, Feb. 18, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down slightly more, 1.1%.
A worker clears snow from the front of the New York Stock Exchange in the Financial District, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in the Manhattan borough of New York.
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower on Friday after disappointing U.S. jobs and economic data.
Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Australia all declined.
Overnight, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.4% for its third straight daily decline.
Stocks retreated after the U.S. government reported 861,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week. Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed central bank officials believe the coronavirus pandemic still poses considerable risks to the economy.
In Washington, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged Congress to avoid cutting President Joe Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion aid package. She said the economy is in “a deep hole” despite signs of improvement.
“The market is likely still on a reflation path, but the way will get choppier from here,” said Stephen Innes of Axi in a report. He said further improvement requires “continued economic growth recovery” because government and central bank support already are reflected in asset prices.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.9% to 3,641.63 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo sank 1% to 29,947.42. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.1% to 30,265.15.
The Kospi in South Korea retreated 1.2% to 3,048.03 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 tumbled 1.6% to 6,774.20. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets also retreated.
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