Asia report: Markets mostly lower as Korea concern continues

Markets in Asia were mostly lower on Friday, as traders looked to North Korea’s weekend holiday as a potential risk event.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.63% at 19,274.82, as the yen strengthened 0.77% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 107.62.

On the economic front, second quarter gross domestic product figures showed the country's economy grew 2.5% year-on-year, far below the 4% growth predicted in a preliminary release.

US computing giant Apple was brought into the spotlight in the ongoing Toshiba saga, reportedly being courted by three different consortiums in making an offer for the Japanese tech conglomerate’s valuable memory chip division.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was flat at 3,365.44, and the smaller, technology-centric Shenzhen Composite gained 0.16% to 1,975.87.

Chinese exports rose 5.5% in dollar terms in August, fresh data suggested, with imports rising 13.3%, also in dollar terms.

The exports reading was just below the 6% forecast by a Reuters poll, while imports beat the 10% expectation.

South Korea’s Kospi was off 0.11% at 2,343.72, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong finished ahead 0.53% at 27,668.47.

In Seoul, Hyundai Motor was up 1.8% with car parts supplier Hyundai Mobis losing 4.66%, following reports that the carmaker had restarted operations at its China facility on Thursday.

It had apparently suspended production there earlier in the week, after a issue over payment with a German supplier.

Sentiment was neither warm nor cool during the session, with some market watchers pointing to ongoing concern around North Korea.

Saturday would be the country’s Foundation Day national holiday, which many believe would be seen by the regime as the ideal time to launch another missile.

“The next event risk for global markets is North Korea's Foundation Day tomorrow … possibly the key date for the highly publicised intercontinental ballistic missile launch,” noted ING Asia head of research Rob Carnell.

“Markets may decide to close off positions ahead of this possible event.”

Markets were also reacting to the European Central Bank standing pat on interest rates on Thursday, keeping its official rate at 0%.

Oil prices were bobbing above and below the waterline during Asian trading, with Brent crude last up 0.38% at $54.70 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate down 0.41% at $48.89.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3% to settle at 5,672.62, dragged down by losses in the hefty financials and energy subindexes.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 gained 0.6% to close at 7,851.53, with medical equipment manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Healthcare closing up 0.9% after reaching a record price during the session.

Both of the down under dollars were stronger on the greenback, with the Aussie last ahead 0.65% at AUD 1.2346 and the Kiwi surging 0.97% to NZD 1.3690.