Most Asian markets retreat after upbeat week

AFP: Most Asian markets turned lower Friday following a healthy run-up in the week, tracking a sell-off on Wall Street where a plunge in retail giant Macy’s fanned concerns about the key US retail sector.

Optimism has been high the past four days on solid US jobs data and moderate Emmanuel Macron’s landslide French presidential win Sunday, pushing some markets to multi-year highs.

But traders took a step back ahead of the weekend with confidence rattled by a series of below-par Chinese data and Donald Trump’s shock firing of the head of the FBI, which some fear could lead to a crisis that will knock the president’s economy-boosting agenda offline.

On Thursday New York’s three main indexes turned negative after Macy’s announced a 39% fall in net profit, its latest in a series of weak readings that have underscored the deterioration of bricks-and-mortar stores due to the rise of e-commerce.

The figures hit other big-name stores and with the retail sector a crucial driver of the world’s top economy, there are fears about the outlook for top retailers.

Tokyo’s Nikkei index closed down 0.4% from a 17-month high, while Sydney shed 0.7% and Singapore gave up 0.3%. Seoul, which closed Thursday at a record high, eased 0.5%. Wellington, Taipei and Manila also slipped.

But Hong Kong added 0.1% in the afternoon extending a rally to five days. Bloomberg News reported, without naming sources, that China had made preparations to support the Hang Seng Index if needed ahead of the expected visit of President Xi Xinping to the city for the July 1 handover celebrations.

Shanghai – which has fallen about seven% in the past month on worries about a state crackdown on leveraged investing – ended up 0.7% with speculation mainland shares were also being given state backing.

The dollar turned lower against the yen and euro, having enjoyed a surge Thursday on comments from a top Federal Reserve official backing three more interest rates this year.