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6 years ago

Asian shares fall as US accuses China of election meddling

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Asian share markets were mostly lower on Friday after US Vice President Mike Pence claimed China had meddled with its midterm elections to unsettle the Trump administration, which Beijing has denied.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.8 per cent to 23,784.64, and the Kospi in South Korea dropped 0.6 per cent to 2,261.89. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.4 per cent to 26,512.16.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3 per cent to 6,193.30. Stocks fell in Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia. Markets in Chinese mainland were closed for a national holiday, reports AP.

US stocks were sharply higher on Thursday. The S&P 500 index gave up 0.8 per cent to 2,901.61, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.7 per cent to 26,627.48.

The Nasdaq composite tumbled 1.8 per cent to 7,879.51. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks was 1.5 per cent lower at 1,646.91.

Benchmark US crude added 47 cents to $74.80 a barrel. The contract lost 2.7 per cent to settle at $74.33 per barrel in New York.

Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 37 cents to $84.95 per barrel. It shed 2 percent to $84.58 per barrel in London.

The dollar strengthened to 113.91 yen from 113.86 yen on Thursday. The euro fell to $1.1506 from $1.1515.

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