Asian stocks trade mostly lower with.........>

STOCKS: Asian stocks trade mostly lower with Japanese & US political unrest

casting a shadow over risk assets, threatening the Asia-Pacific equity space's

gains that were made earlier in the week.

- The Nikkei 225 last traded 0.75% lower as Utilities & IT lagged.

- The Hang Seng & China's CSI 300 were down 0.3% & 0.2% respectively, but the

Hang Seng remained on target for its best week in a month. Energy & consumer

staples names lagged in HK, while real estate & telecoms managed modest gains.

- The ASX 200 outperformed, with consumer staples & telecoms running higher,

while financials was the only sector to trade lower. Wesfarmers were a notable

outperformer as the co. announced a plan to spin off Coles.

- US indices edged lower, with the mini S&P 2 points lower, while the mini Dow

lost 52 points.