Stock market today: Asian stocks mixed after Wall Street's post-election bonanza wanes

HONG KONG: Asian stocks were mostly higher on Friday after US stocks slipped as the market's big rally following Trump's election victory cooled further.

US futures and oil prices were lower.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3 per cent to 38,642.91. The yen has been weakening against the US dollar, boosting share prices for exporter like Nissan Motor Co., whose shares jumped 4.5 per cent on Friday.

Japan's economy grew at a 0.9 per cent annual pace in the July-September quarter, higher than the 0.5 per cent increase in the previous quarter, even as the Bank of Japan raised its key interest rate to 0.25 per cent from 0.1 per cent in July.

The BOJ said during its October meeting that it plans to continue increasing rates, with a potential target of 1 per cent in the second half of the next fiscal year, which begins in April, if economic activity and prices develop as expected.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.1 per cent to 19,454.41 and the Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.5 per cent to 3,330.73 after a report from the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed the nation's retail sales rose 4.8 per cent year-on-year in October, beating forecasts. But industrial output slowed from the previous month and improvements in the property industry were marginal.

Australia's S and P/ASX 200 gained 0.7 per cent to 8,285.20, while South Korea's Kospi edged 0.1 per cent lower, to 2,416.86.

On Thursday, the S and P 500 fell 0.6 per cent to 5,949.17, though it's still near its all-time high set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5 per cent to 43,750.86, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.6 per cent to 19,107.65.

Some of the stocks that got the biggest bump from Trump's election lost momentum. Tesla fell 5.8 per cent for just its second loss since Election Day. It's run by Elon Musk, who has become a close Trump ally.

Smaller stocks also fell harder than the rest of the market, and the Russell 2000 index of small stocks lost 1.4 per cent. It's a turnaround from the election's immediate aftermath, when the thought was that an “America First” president would benefit domestically focused companies more than big multinationals that could be hurt by tariffs and trade wars.

Stocks also felt the effects of swinging yields in the bond market following the latest hotter-than-expected economic reports and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The Fed just cut its main interest rate earlier this month for the second time this year to ease the pressure on the economy, and investors are eager for more.

But short-term yields climbed after Powell said, “The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates. The strength we are currently seeing in the economy gives us the ability to approach our decisions carefully.”

The two-year Treasury yield, which closely tracks expectations for Fed action, rose to 4.35 per cent from 4.28 per cent late Wednesday.

Earlier Thursday, it had wavered after a report showed prices paid at the US wholesale level were 2.4 per cent higher in October from a year earlier. That was an acceleration from September's 1.9 per cent wholesale inflation rate and a worse jump than economists expected.

A separate report, meanwhile, suggested the U.S. job market remains solid. Fewer US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in the latest signal that layoffs aren't taking off.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury also swiveled up and down before settling at 4.45 per cent.

In other dealings, US benchmark crude oil lost 86 cents to USD 67.84 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 88 cents to USD 71.68 per barrel.

The dollar fell to 156.16 Japanese yen from 156.23 yen. The euro edged up to USD 1.0556 from USD 1.0534.