Regional Asia-Pacific equities continued.....>

STOCKS: Regional Asia-Pacific equities continued to struggle for upside impetus

in the wake of the pressure that global equities experienced Thursday.

- The Nikkei 225 traded 0.6% lower, with the JPY holding on to most of

Thursday's gains during the session. On a sectoral basis, IT led the way lower

with materials and energy names also struggling after the pressure on oil & base

metals observed Thursday. Financials were the outperformer as they continued to

benefit from the move higher in yields earlier this week.

- The Hang Seng continued to falter as the hard-line U.S.-China rhetoric dragged

on, with chatter of Chinese corporate espionage in play Thursday. The index last

trades 0.4% lower.

- The ASX bucked the trend once again, adding 0.2% as consumer staples led the

move higher.

- U.S. index futures managed to register modest gains as Tsy yields stabilised.