Asian share markets mostly fell on Friday as investors' sentiment turned soured after the Wall Street losses overnight. Tokyo stocks fell sharply with the key Nikkei index hitting a fresh four-month intraday low under 9,500. Yen remained strong despite many key currencies were lower against US dollar.
Wall Street maintained its positive run on Wednesday session as the Federal Reserve officials tipped that the central bank could keep interest rate at historical low level. The Chinese economic data released yesterday also added confidence to global recovery hopes. European markets also rallied on low interest rate expectations.
Wall Street closed mixed overnight as investors took profits after a massive gain in previous session. US shares mostly fell earlier in the day, but rebounded towards the close. Analysts said that market sentiment remained bullish.
Japan's Toyo Engineering Corp. (TYO:6330) and Hitachi Ltd. (TYO:6501) will join forces to make an entry into the global market for liquefied natural gas plants, targeting small, undeveloped gas fields mainly in Australia and Indonesia.
Overnight Wall Street extended its gains on Reserve Bank of Australia's unexpected decision to raise the official interest rate. Investors saw the first rate hike in advanced economies since the global financial crisis as a key indication of recovery. The move also pushed commodities higher with gold soaring to a record.
Komatsu Ltd (TYO:6301), the Japanese earthmoving equipment giant, outperformed the industry in Japan and delivered a strong unit sales of hydraulic excavators jumped 75 percent in China in September.
Overnight Wall Street was lower for a second consecutive session on a weak home sales report. The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes fell 2.7 per cent in August to an annual rate of 5.10 million units, breaking a string of four increases in six months. The surprise drop in home sales raised more concerns over the economy recovery strength.
