Asian stock markets sagged on Friday after U.S. tech shares retreated from recent rallies, though optimism about U.S. corporate earnings and the global economy underpinned overall sentiment.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8 percent but was still on track for a 0.4 percent weekly gain, with Samsung Electric, Asia’s largest company by market capitalization, dropping 3.5 percent.
Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.4 percent.
On Wall Street, the Dow industrials set a record closing high, helped by a 7.7 percent jump in Verizon, following the top U.S. wireless carrier’s quarterly earnings.
But investors were spooked by a sudden drop in technology and transportation shares. The S&P 500 technology sector fell 2.0 percent at one point before ending the day down 0.8 percent.
After the bell, Amazon.com shares – up nearly 40 percent this year – fell 3.0 percent after the online retailer reported a slump in profits.
U.S. stock futures also dipped 0.3 percent in Asia.
“U.S. hi-tech shares have seen a spectacular rally in the past month. Few investors would have imagined that. I think it is quite natural to see some profit-taking in the short term,” said Hirokazu Kabeya, chief global strategist at Daiwa Securities.
Overall, investors’ sentiment remained solid on the back of upbeat corporate earning results and a bright global economic outlook. (Reuters)
