UPDATE: Asian Shares Mixed; Oil, Mining Stocks Weak

SINGAPORE -- Asian stock markets were mixed Friday, with sentiment hurt by weakness in Wall Street stocks Thursday. Resources shares were lower on weakness the prices of gold, base metals and oil.

There was little in the way of U.S. data to worry about later, though eurozone gross domestic product data for the third quarter was in focus, particularly after disappointing industrial production results Thursday.

"We are basically tracking the U.S. market. Most sectors are down on profit-taking across the board, while defensives have held up better as investors question the U.S. economic outlook after the crude oil inventories data," said Macquarie Private Wealth Private Client Advisor Marcus Droga in Sydney. "The U.S. economy is not generating the demand for oil that people expected. I think after six consecutive gains, you would have to say Wall Street was ready for a breather."

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.8%, Japan's Nikkei 225 was 0.5% lower, South Korea's Kospi Composite was down 0.3% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.6%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were two points higher in screen trade.

Resources stocks were broadly lower after December Nymex crude futures dropped 3.0% Thursday, while spot gold pulled back to an intra-day low of $1,110.80 per ounce after setting a new record high at $1,122.80. Spot gold was last at $1,105.00 per ounce, up $2.70 from the New York close. December Nymex crude was down 16 cents at $76.78 per barrel after falling $2.34 Thursday.

London Metals Exchange base metals were pulled lower by oil's losses Thursday, with LME nickel the worst performer, dropping $610 to four-month lows on a combination of high inventories and technical selling.

They were paring Thursday's losses a little in early Asian trade with LME three-month nickel at $16,300 per ton, up $110 from the London kerb and copper at $6,525 per ton, up $25.

In Australia, BHP Billiton was down 1.8%, Newcrest Mining lost 2.8% and Woodside Petroleum fell 1.0%. In Tokyo, Japan Petroleum Exploration was down 2.4%, Sumitomo Metal Mining was down 1.9% and Inpex was down 0.4%. In China, Jiangxi Copper was down 0.9% and Yunnan Aluminum was down 0.8% and in the Philippines, gold producer Philex Mining was off 2.6% and nickel miner Century Peak Metal Holdings was down 1.6%.

There was some relief in Australia for Kathmandu's underwriters after its shares traded up on its debut. It was good news for the IPO market after Australian department store Myer Holdings' listing last week, which sunk 8.5% on its first day of trading. Kathmandu's shares opened at A$1.775 and were trading at A$1.760, compared with its public offer price of A$1.70.

National Australia Bank was down 4.0% as the stock went ex-dividend, and ANZ Bank fell 1.9% on expectations of selling pressure caused by its dividend reinvestment plan pricing period, which kicks off Friday. Defensive stocks were finding support as cyclicals came under pressure, with Telstra up 0.3% and Woolworths gaining 0.7%.

Thin trading volumes and the lack of momentum in the Japanese market was partly due to reduced foreign investor activity in the market, said Tachibana Securities analyst Kenichi Hirano.

"They are not necessarily selling much, but it's just that Japanese stocks are not so attractive any more, compared to other emerging Asian markets," Hirano said. Flush "liquidity may be giving (foreign investors) new money, but they'd rather put it into Chinese and Indian stocks."

Japanese exporters were supported by Thursday's yen weakness, with the U.S. dollar again trading above Y90. Toyota Motor was flat and Sharp rose 2.4%.

The Korean stock market was weighed by exporter stocks, following Wal-Mart's tepid fourth-quarter forecast, which raised concerns for year-end sales. "We need not only (the) China effect but also the revival of U.S. consumer spending for the local economy and firms" to extend their growth, said Park Seok-hyun at KTB Securities in Seoul. LG Electronics was down 3.3% and Hyundai Motor lost 0.5%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was held up by gains for HSBC, which was up 1.3%, resuming its uptrend after its rosy third-quarter update earlier in the week.

Elsewhere, Singapore's Straits Times Index was down 0.5%, Taipei's headline index was up 0.1%, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.9%, Thai shares were 0.4% higher, Philippine shares lost 0.9%, New Zealand's NZX-50 was down 0.4%, Kuala Lumpur's main index was flat and Jakarta shares were up 0.1%.

In foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar was pulling back a little against the yen and the euro after sharp gains on Thursday. The dollar was at Y90.23 from Y90.40 in late New York trade, while the euro was at $1.4867 from $1.4841 and Y134.11 from Y134.15.

"We caution that (the) market may use stronger levels to get short dollars again, a pattern seen in recent weeks between Friday and Monday," said Brown Brothers Harriman in a note.

The yield on the 10-year cash Japanese government bond was sharply lower, falling to as far as 1.330%, its lowest level since Oct. 19. It was last at 1.340%, down 3.0 basis points. Lead JGB futures were up 0.41 at 138.90 points.

Barclays Capital chief strategist Chotaro Morita said "the recent sell-off in bonds has had an abstract dimension linked to fiscal concerns and it would be natural to see a correction from this overshoot, but it may require serious support from fundamentals and the overseas market environment for long-term yields to resume a clear downtrend."