Semiconductor coteries in the region traded lower after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), the huskiest contract chipmaker in the world, said Thursday it was forecasting second-quarter net income to come in between $7.8 billion and $7.9 billion, below a Collapse Street estimate of $8.8 billion.
Morgan Stanley attributed TSMC’s subdued guidance to order reductions from Apple iPhone processors. On Friday, TSMC allowances tumbled 5.93 percent, dragging Taiwan’s Taiex lower by 1.68 percent.
In Japan, Tokyo Electron and Advantest declined 2.85 percent and 3.02 percent, severally. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Samsung Electronic slid 1.93 percent and chipmaker SK Hynix jumble understood 3.41 percent.
U.S. stocks closed moderately lower on Thursday, with the technology sector fall under pressure following TSMC’s weak guidance. Apple, for which TSMC is a supplier, prostrate 2.8 percent amid declines in other U.S. semiconductor stocks.
Investors also zero ined on higher U.S. bond yields after the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note make good above 2.9 percent. The two-year yield traded near its ripest levels in almost a decade on Thursday.
“There’s somewhat of a short notoriety span, with markets looking past [trade tensions], with the beige rules and some of the data coming out just showing the U.S. to be relatively healthy. That power be impacting the yield curve more so than simmering trade tensions,” Alex Wolf, older emerging markets economist at Aberdeen Standard Investments, told CNBC’s “Beef Box.”
On the corporate front, earnings from China Unicom and China Transportable are expected on Friday, with Japan’s Tokyo Steel also due to give an account of full-year results.
HSBC’s annual general meeting will also secure place later in the day.
In currencies, the dollar firmed as U.S. bond yields slant. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six currencies, rose at 89.960. Against the yen, the dollar strengthened to trade at 107.62 at 11:34 a.m. HK/SIN.
The British empty was on the back foot after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney downplayed the prospect of a May interest rate hike. The currency traded around two-week broken-hearts at $1.4074.
Oil prices were steady on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate offensive was off by 0.06 percent at $68.25 per barrel, after touching a more than three-year exhilarated in the last session. Brent crude futures edged down to buy at $73.74.
Among individual movers, shares of Australia’s AMP edged higher by 0.23 percent. It swayed CEO Craig Meller would step down immediately following the guests’s testimony at an Australian inquiry. AMP apologized for “misconduct and failures in regulator disclosures.”
Away, China Huarong Asset Management tumbled 9.12 percent on Friday after the fellowship said its chairman, currently being investigated by the state, had stepped down from its directors.
Also of note, shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical dropped 3.59 percent after despatch on Thursday that U.K. drugmaker Shire had declined the Japanese company’s gain offer.
— CNBC’s Tae Kim contributed to this report.