HSI Slips, Asian Stocks Follow Wall Street Retreat

Hong Kong shares were down at the break on Friday after US equities slipped overnight on disappointing earnings reports.

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.5 percent, to 28,467.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.2 percent, at 2,932 while the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.3 percent, to 1,568.

A strong American economic data, including Thursday's report showing an increase in durable goods sales in June, has investors fearing a less dovish Fed announcement.

"Markets are getting nervous that Fed could disappoint next week," said Oanda senior market analyst Edward Moya.

Tokyo was down 0.5 percent at the break as investors went into profit-taking mode ahead of the weekend.

Japan's SoftBank Group was down 0.1 percent after it announced a new $108-billion fund to drive investment in artificial intelligence.

Beleaguered automaker Nissan was off 2.6 percent after announcing a 95-percent plunge in quarterly net profit and the shedding of 12,500 jobs on Thursday.

Both Taiwan and Singapore were down while Sydney pared Thursday's gains on the back of central bank chief Philip Lowe hinting at further rate cuts, after Australia's competition watchdog called for measures to better police internet giants Google and Facebook. (AFP)

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