Investing.com - APAC indices fell on Friday as US markets remained cautious ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole.
By 10:50 am GMT (12:50 am GMT), the S&P/ASX 200 and KOSPI 200 fell 0.3% apiece, while the Nikkei 225 ticked 0.2% higher.
In the US, stocks fell, with the S&P 500 slipping 0.9%, the NASDAQ Composite down 1.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.4%.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Franklin Resources Inc (NYSE:BEN), surging 4.6%; Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN), jumping 3.3%; and CenterPoint Energy Inc (NYSE:CNP), lifting 3.1%.
The biggest decliners were Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA), which dropped 6.5%; Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 6.1%; and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), which lost 5.7%.
In commodity markets, Brent crude oil rose 1.5% to US$77.22 a barrel, while gold remained flat at US$2,484.47.
In the bond markets, US 10-year and 2-year rates were at 3.843% and 3.98%, respectively.
Chinese shares closed lower, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index losing 0.3% to 2,848.77, and the Shenzhen Composite Index falling 1.1% to 1,505.08.
Hong Kong shares ended higher, as the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 1.4% to 17,641.00..
Indian shares ended higher, with the BSE SENSEX rising 0.2% to 81,053.19.
In the UK, stocks finished higher as the FTSE 100 Index increased by 0.1% to 8,288.00.
In Europe, shares closed mixed. Germany's DAX rose 0.2% to 18,493.39, while France's CAC 40 remained flat at 7,524.11.