Asian stocks fall, little boost from Wall Street

SEOUL, South Korea — Asian stocks mostly edged lower Friday despite the Dow Jones industrials closing above 10,000 points for a second day as a monthslong rally lost steam.

Losses were muted, however, with oil’s rise above $78 a barrel helping energy stocks. Thailand’s market rebounded after falling 7 percent over two days amid panic about the health of 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average was down 13.45, or 0.1 percent, at 10,225.20 and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 7.64, or 0.5 percent, to 1,651.34. Australia’s benchmark dropped 0.4 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 26.63, or 0.1 percent, to 22,025.71.

Mark Tan, who helps manage the equivalent of about $10 billion of equities and bonds at UOB Asset Management in Singapore, said regional bourses were “taking a breather” for now, but were likely to resume gains on positive earnings and economic growth prospects.

“Asian markets have run up quite a bit,” he said. “They will still continue to do well, but over the short term there is a bit of consolidation.”

Elsewhere, China’s Shanghai index fell 0.5 percent, Singapore’s market lost 0.3 percent and Taiwan was flat.

Thailand’s benchmark jumped 1.9 percent. The previous day it closed down 5.3 percent after tumbling more than 8 percent as the king’s lengthy hospitalization raised fears of a power vacuum in this divided Asian nation.

“We believe that, over the coming weeks, panic will give way to sober evaluation of the real risks,” Credit Suisse analysts said in a report.”Although Thailand is an inherently risky place, it is no riskier today than it was two days ago before the panic.”

In New York on Thursday, the Dow rose 47.08, or 0.5 percent, to 10,062.94, its highest close since Oct. 3 last year and second straight finish above 10,000. Broader indices also gained.

U.S. stocks gained as a rise in the price of crude oil boosted energy shares and economic data showing that the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment insurance fell to its lowest level since January. That helped to offset disappointment about Citigroup’s earnings.

Oil prices continued a weeklong rally, jumping above $78 a barrel, after U.S. gasoline inventories unexpectedly fell.

Benchmark crude for November delivery rose as much as 59 cents to $78.17 before slipping back below $78. The contract rose $2.40 to settle at $77.58 on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.4923 from $1.4942. The dollar rose to 90.88 yen from 90.56 yen.