Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Friday as investors looked ahead to the U.S. market for further signals on the Federal Reserve's likely move to hike interest rates in December.
The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.07%, while the S&P/ASSX 200 gained 0.16%. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.11%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks fell slightly on Thursday as a sell-off in the health care sector triggered by market-moving comments from UnitedHealth Group (N:N:UNH), offset gains in the technology and consumer industries ahead of next week's start to the holiday shopping season.
On Thursday morning, United Health Group rattled markets with stark warnings that it could leave the public insurance exchanges created by U.S. president Barack Obama's comprehensive health care plan as early as 2017. The nation's largest health care company said it will evaluate whether it can continue serving the public exchanges in 2017 over the first half of next year over mounting concerns that its business in the segment is "deteriorating." After initially showing some reluctance to join the exchanges last year, United Health expanded coverage to 24 states in 2015, covering more than a half million Americans.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.41 or 0.02% to 17,732.75, while the NASDAQ Composite index dipped 1.56 or 0.03% to 5,073.64 on a choppy day of trading. The S&P 500 Composite index, meanwhile, lost 2.34 or 0.11% to 2,081.24, as six of 10 sectors closed in the green. Stocks in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Technology sectors led, while stocks in the Health Care and Energy industries lagged.
Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's October meeting on Wednesday provided further indications that the U.S. central bank could raise short-term interest rates when it meets again next month.
Last week, initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell by 5,000 to 271,000, in line with consensus analysts' forecasts of 270,000 claims for the week ending on Nov. 14. At 270,750, the four-week average is up by 7,500 versus the same reading from October.