Investing.com - Japanese shares led a fall in Asian shares as the yen reversed course in morning trade Friday and climbed as investors in Asia offered a whipsaw reaction to the surprise Swiss central bank’s unexpected scrapping of its currency cap.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.1 per cent to 138.59 in early Tokyo - a day after the Swiss National Bank abolished a minimum exchange rate against the euro designed to shield the economy from the region’s sovereign-debt crisis. USD/JPY taded at 115.89, down 0.20%, after initially showing a weaker yen in the morning. AUD/USD also gained.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 0.2 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi index retreated 0.5 per cent.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Technology, Oil & Gas and Financials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.61%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.92%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 1.48%.