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SHANGHAI: Asian shares turned lower on Friday as trepidation ahead of the start of the US corporate earnings season and underlying anxiety over the global growth outlook eclipsed some reassuring US economic data.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last down 0.1 percent, having see-sawed within a tight range throughout the morning session
Despite broad weakness in the region, with Chinese blue-chips down 0.8 percent ahead of the release of trade data, higher Chinese iron ore prices helped to push Australia's SP/ASX 200 index up 0.7 percent.
Japan's Nikkei stock index gained 0.5 percent.
Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets and Stockbroking in Sydney, said markets were in a "holding pattern" as they waited on Chinese trade data and the US earnings season.
Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at GAIN Capital in Singapore, said a dovish shift by central banks, together with possible progress on a US-China trade deal and US President Donald Trump's talking up of the markets could help to support equities in the coming weeks.
"Consumer discretionary and information technology are more than outperforming the SP 500 rebound, and that generally is what you see in the start of an upswing, not near the end of a cycle," he said.
The tepid performance of Asian markets Friday followed a choppy session on Wall Street that left major indexes treading water, hemmed in by anxiety ahead of corporate earnings and worries about a global economic slowdown, which capped gains stemming from upbeat US economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.05 percent to 26,143.05, the SP 500 closed flat at 2,888.32 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.21 percent to 7,947.36.
Tempering expectations for a sharp slowdown in US growth as data that showed the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a 49-1/2-year low last week
Comments from US Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida that the US economy is in a "good place" but reemphasising the Fed's patience on rate hikes, also helped to reassure investors.
"One of the big takeaways from the past few days has been the broad decline in volatility across markets," National Australia Bank (NAB) analysts said in a morning note.
NAB attributed the muted reaction to recent events to dovish policy shifts by central banks, signs that China's stimulus measures are having an effect, continued US-China trade talks and the Brexit delay.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday that the six-month delay of Britain's exit from the European Union avoids the "terrible outcome" of a "no-deal" Brexit, but does nothing to lift uncertainty over the final outcome.
Underscoring ongoing threats to the health of the global economy, IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa warned that a bigger-than-expected slowdown in China's economy remains a key risk to global growth.
US Treasury yields inched lower amid the cautious retreat in shares, after earlier rising on the US jobless claims data, stronger producer prices and a weak 30-year bond auction.
On Friday morning, the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes fell to 2.497 percent compared with its US close of 2.504 percent on Thursday.
The two-year yield was unchanged at 2.356 percent.
In currency markets, the dollar was up 0.1 percent against the yen at 111.75, but a strong gain in the euro, which jumped 0.36 percent on the day to buy $1.1290, pushed the dollar index down 0.2 percent to 96.979.
Traders said demand for the euro jumped among Japanese players amid speculation toward cross-border flows.
US crude ticked up 0.35 percent at $63.80 a barrel, while Brent crude was up 0.28 percent at $71.03 per barrel.
Gold was flat after falling more than 1 percent on Thursday to break below the key $1,300 level following solid US data.
Spot gold traded at $1,292.03 per ounce.
