Asia stocks edge higher, dollar languishes on US politics, mixed data

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Asian stocks inched up on Friday after a technology-led drop on Wall Street, while US Treasury yields and the dollar were pressured by news Special Counsel Robert Mueller had issued grand jury subpoenas in his investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US elections.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2%, although gains were kept in check by the reluctance of many investors to stake out fresh positions ahead of US job data later in the global day.

The index was poised to climb 0.3% for the week, taking its gains for far this year to nearly 24%.

Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.3% on a stronger yen, and looked set to end the week little changed.

South Korea’s KOSPI, which closed at a 3-1/2-week low on Thursday, recovered 0.3%. It is down 0.4% this week.

China’s blue-chip CSI 300 lost 0.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.1%.

Overnight, the S&P and Nasdaq closed 0.2% and 0.35% lower respectively, with the declines led by technology shares.

But the Dow managed to post slight gains, staying above the 22,000 level breached on Wednesday.

US stocks fell to intraday lows late on Thursday after the Wall Street Journal reported that Mueller has empanelled a grand jury to investigate allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major peers, languished near the 15-month low hit earlier this week. It was down almost 0.1% on Friday at 92.779, set to end the week 0.5% lower.

The dollar crept up 0.1% to 110.125 yen, but failed to make up most of Thursday’s 0.6% loss. It is on track for a weekly loss of 0.5%.

Benchmark 10-year notes were at 2.2247% on Friday. On Thursday, they fell to as low as 2.218%, their lowest level since late June, and closed at 2.228%.

Sterling hit a nine-month low against the euro overnight, and held near that level on Friday, after the Bank of England’s policymakers kept interest rates at a record-low 0.25%.

Sterling was 0.9041 to the euro on Friday, after falling to as low as 0.9048, its weakest since Nov. 2.

That helped lift the FTSE 0.85%.

The common currency was up 0.1% to $1.1879, extending Thursday’s 0.1% gain. It is set to end the week 1.2% stronger.

In commodities, oil prices remained under pressure following losses overnight. Persistent concerns about high crude supplies from OPEC offset the previous day’s data showing record US gasoline demand.

US crude was marginally higher at $49 a barrel, after sliding 1.1% overnight, putting it on track for a weekly loss of 1.4%.

Global benchmark Brent slipped almost 0.1% to $51.96, extending Thursday’s 0.7% loss, headed for a 1.05% weekly decline.

Gold was steady, holding on to Thursday’s 0.15% gain. Spot gold was at $1,268.66 an ounce, after Thursday’s 0.15% gain, and set to end the week little changed.