Oil prices dropped and the safe-haven yen strengthened in the afternoon of Asian trading hours on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he tested positive for the coronavirus.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slumped 155.22 points, or 0.7%, to 23,029.90. The Tokyo Stock Exchange returned to trade on Friday following a halting of trade yesterday caused by a hardware glitch.
The Japanese yen — often seen as a safe-haven currency — strengthened following Trump’s announcement, last changing hands at 105.17 per U.S. dollar after an earlier low of 105.66 against the greenback.
International benchmark Brent crude futures were down 2.42% to $39.94 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also shed 2.43% to $37.78 per barrel. That followed a sizable decline on Thursday of nearly 4%.
Markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Korea, and Taiwan remained shuttered for holiday.
Shares of oil companies regionally also fell in Friday trade. Over in Japan, Inpex slipped 3.1%. In Australia, shares of Beach Energy dropped 6.4% while Santos declined 5.5%.
Australia’s retail sales data for August fell 4% on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to data from the country’s Bureau of Statistics. That followed a rise of 3.2% in July.
The Australian dollar slipped to $0.716, following an earlier high of $0.7189.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index dropped 4.63 points, or 0.2%, to 2,496.11
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 10.12 points, or 0.1%, to 11,822.84.
In Australia, the ASX 200 fell 81.43 points, or 1.4%, to 5,791.50
