Japan's stock market fell to a one-month low on Friday as a lack of progress in the U.S. budget standoff raised concerns that partisan politics in Washington could lead to a full-blown crisis in the world's biggest economy.
The Nikkei 225 index in Japan fell 132.94 points, or 0.9%, to 14,024.31
Investors largely shrugged off the Bank of Japan's widely expected decision to keep monetary policy unchanged.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index faltered 75.86 points, or 0.3%, to 23,138.54, as investors took profit on the outperforming Macau casino sector and telecom counters dropped on uncertainty about Chinese pricing policy.
In Taipei, HTC Corp. posted Friday its first quarterly net loss since listing in 2002, as an expensive effort to revive its brand through its high-end HTC One smartphone has so far failed to boost sales.
In Seoul, Samsung Electronics Co. on Friday predicted record operating profit for the third quarter, though its forecasts indicated a slowdown in earnings growth as its mobile business grapples with an increasingly saturated smartphone market.
The world's biggest smartphone maker by shipments said Friday it expects an operating profit of between 9.9 trillion won and 10.3 trillion won ($9.2 billion and $9.6 billion U.S.) for the three months ended Sept. 30. That represents growth of between 22.8% to 27.8% from the 8.06 trillion won in operating profit posted a year earlier, slowing from the 47.5% rise in operating profit in the second quarter.
Australian equities fell Friday, under pressure following sharp declines on Wall Street on worries about the ongoing U.S. government shutdown and the upcoming deadline to raise the debt ceiling.
Shares of mining sector heavyweight BHP Billiton Ltd. slumped 1.4%, and Rio Tinto Ltd. shares 0.9%. In the energy group, stock in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. fell 1%.
Financial shares struggled as well, with National Australia Bank Ltd. losing 1%. The S&P/ASX 200 was on track for a weekly decline of 2%, which would mark the index's first loss in eight weeks.
In other markets;
Markets in Shanghai remained shuttered for holidays until next Tuesday.
Korea’s Kospi Index returned from holiday to ditch 2.49 points, or 0.1%, to 1,996.98
Taiwan’s Taiex index nosed ahead 5.53 points, or 0.1%, to 8,364.55
The Singapore Straits Times Index dropped 6.71 points, or 0.2%, to 3,138.08
In New Zealand, the Exchange 50 Gross Index faded 10.83 points to 4,759.38
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 moved lower 26.87 points, or 0.5%, to 5,208.02
