Investing.com - Shares in Asia fell on Thursday with no major regional data driving sentiment and investors trading in a narrow range.
The Nikkei 225 eased 0.18%, while the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.98% and the Shanghai Compose edged down 0.04%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks moved slightly lower on Wednesday, extending a recent trend of sideways, range-bound trading, as sharp losses in the energy sector offset gains from a strong second quarter by Walt Disney Company (NYSE:NYSE:DIS).
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 37.39 or 0.20% to 18,495.66 in Wednesday's session, suffering its third loss over the last five trading sessions. Since hitting an all-time record-high of 18,622.01 on July 20, the Dow is down fractionally by approximately 0.40%. Over the last month of trading, the Dow has only moved 1% in a positive or negative direction from its previous session's closing level once in the last 23 sessions.
The NASDAQ Composite index, meanwhile, lost 20.89 or 0.40% to 5,204.59, while the S&P 500 Composite index fell 37.39 or 0.20% to 18,495.66, each remaining near record territory. With the slight losses, the NASDAQ is on pace for its first losing week since mid-June. On the S&P 500, seven of 10 sectors closed in the red as stocks in the Energy, Financials and Health Care industries lagged. Stocks in the Consumer Goods, Consumer Services and telecommunications sectors led, each closing moderately higher for the day.