CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Friday as investors shunned riskier assets ahead of the U.S. presidential election next week. Investors are also cautious ahead of the release of the U.S. jobs data for October later in the day.
The Labor Department is scheduled to release its closely-watched monthly employment report, which includes both public and private sector jobs. Employment is expected to increase by 178,000 jobs in October after climbing by 156,000 jobs in September. The unemployment rate is expected to dip to 4.9 percent from 5.0 percent.
The Australian market declined, following another negative lead from Wall Street amid nervousness over the U.S. presidential election next week and the fall in crude oil prices.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is declining 33.40 points or 0.64 percent to 5,192.20, off a low of 5,184.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is losing 31.60 points or 0.60 percent to 5,275.00.
Among the major miners, BHP Billiton is declining almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is down 0.3 percent, while Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 1 percent.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining is edging down less than 0.1 percent and Evolution Mining is losing 0.4 percent.
In the oil sector, Oil Search is losing more than 1 percent, Woodside Petroleum is lower by almost 1 percent and Santos is down 0.2 percent after crude oil prices fell more than 1 percent overnight.
Banks are also weak. ANZ Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are lower in a range of 0.2 percent to 1.9 percent.
Shares of Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia are losing almost 7 percent after the company reported a 29 percent fall in third-quarter profit.
Orica turned to profit in the full year, compared to a loss in the prior year. The explosive maker's shares are gaining almost 7 percent.
Sonic Healthcare said it will buy a chain of German pathology labs for 120 million euros, which will boost its earnings by up to 4 percent. Shares of the medical centre operator are advancing almost 2 percent.
In economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that retail sales in Australia climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on month in September, coming in at A$25.314 billion. That beat forecasts for 0.4 percent, which would have been unchanged from the previous month.
The Reserve Bank of Australia will release its statement on monetary policy later today.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar continued its ascent against the U.S. dollar on Friday. In late-morning trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7683, up from US$0.7668 on Thursday.
The Japanese market, which was closed on Thursday for a holiday, resumed its downward slide and is notably lower following the negative cues from Wall Street. In addition, the safe-haven strengthened, dragging exporters' shares lower.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 321.51 points or 1.88 percent to 16,813.17, off a low of 16,803.39 earlier.
The major exporters are lower on a stronger yen. Sony is falling almost 4 percent, Panasonic is lower by more than 3 percent, Toshiba is losing almost 3 percent and Canon is down more than 1 percent.
Automaker Toyota and Honda are down more than 4 percent each. Suzuki's shares are losing more than 3 percent despite news that the automaker has decided to expand a second production plant in India even before it has commenced operations.
Fast Retailing is edging up less than 0.1 percent and SoftBank is losing 2 percent. In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is lower by almost 2 percent.
In the oil sector, Inpex is losing more than 2 percent and JX Holdings is down more than 1 percent as crude oil prices declined more than 1 percent overnight.
The Nikkei business daily reported that airbag supplier Takata is preparing for a possible bankruptcy protection filing for its U.S. unit amid rising costs related to the company's defective airbags. Shares of Takata are losing more than 5 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Tokai Carbon is rising more than 8 percent and Furukawa Electric is higher by more than 6 percent.
On the flip side, Casio Computer is losing more than 9 percent, Minebea Co. is lower by almost 9 percent and Mitsumi Electric is declining more than 8 percent.
On the economic front, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed that the services sector in Japan swung to expansion in October, with a PMI score of 50.5. That's up from 48.2 in September, and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
The report also showed that the composite index jumped to 51.3 in October from 48.9 in the previous month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 102 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are lower, while Shanghai, Taiwan and Hong Kong are modestly higher.
On Wall Street, stocks extended their downward slide Thursday, as traders became increasingly nervous that Donald Trump will win the presidential election.
The S&P 500 shed 9.27 points, or 0.4 percent to 2,088.66, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 28.49 points, or 0.2 percent to 17,931.22 and the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 47.16 points, or 0.9 percent to 17,930.74.
The European markets ended lower on Thursday. The DAX of Germany dropped 0.43 percent, the CAC 40 of France fell 0.07 percent and the FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.80 percent.
Crude oil futures slipped to a six-week low on Thursday as doubts about OPEC's willingness to curb production weighed on prices. December WTI oil declined $0.68 or 1.5 percent to close at $44.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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