Asian markets open lower; ASX, Kospi down

Asian markets opened lower on the final trading day of the week, following a nearly 1 percent or more decline in US equities overnight. Australia’s ASX 200 was down 0.21 percent after the open, with declines in the heavily-weighted financials sub-index and the materials sub-index.

In South Korea, the Kospi was down 0.37 percent. Australian detention center operator Broadspectrum was an early mover, soaring 33.04 percent after reports said its board has approved a takeover bid from Spanish group Ferrovial. Major US indexes closed down, with the Dow Jones industrial average lower by 1.17 percent, the Nasdaq composite down 1.19 percent and the S&P 500 off by 0.92 percent. Japanese markets are closed on Friday for a public holiday.

The Japanese benchmark index tumbled 3.61 percent in the previous session, after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) stood pat on monetary policy, disappointing a substantial section of the market betting on further stimulus.

“It was certainly surprising to me that they basically did nothing new, especially when there were market expectations for them to do something else on the equity purchases or other easing measures,” Eric Stein, co-director of global fixed income at Eaton Vance, told CNBC via email Friday.

Stein said for the past few weeks, BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda had “seemed frustrated with the yen strength,” and that his rhetoric had helped “move the currency from 108 to the 111s [level] and now its back to 108” against the dollar. Kathy Lien, managing director of foreign exchange strategy for BK Asset Management said the main takeaway from the BOJ meeting is that “the Japanese feel no immediate pressure to use monetary policy or currency intervention to turn around the economy.”

As of 8:05 a.m. HK/SIN, the yen traded at 108.04 against the dollar, after the pair fell as much as nearly 3 percent Thursday afternoon local time. In the currency market, the dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies, was nearly flat at 93.750.

“The US dollar looks unlikely to break significantly lower,” said Angus Nicholson, a market analyst at IG. “The dollar index is currently resting on a very consistent resistance level around 93.8.”

Nicholson said this indicated it would not take all that much good economic news out of the US to start seeing the dollar regain strength. The Australian dollar traded at USD 0.7628 in early trade, compared to Thursday’s finish at USD 0.7625.