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| Asian shares down following Wall Street's lead | Asian shares down following Wall Street's lead |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Shares in Asia were trending downwards on Thursday, taking their lead from Wall Street, which ended its day lower. | |
| Japan's Nikkei was flat, reversing the morning's losses, while shares in China and Hong Kong were down. | |
| Earlier in the US, the S&P 500 ended a four-day winning streak after a fatal shooting in the Canadian capital unsettled investors. | |
| A gunman killed a soldier at a war memorial in Ottawa and shots were fired in the parliament building. | A gunman killed a soldier at a war memorial in Ottawa and shots were fired in the parliament building. |
| Some positive news for US investors came from Yahoo, however, after the technology giant saw its shares rise more than 4.5% in US trading. | Some positive news for US investors came from Yahoo, however, after the technology giant saw its shares rise more than 4.5% in US trading. |
| The firm reported third-quarter profits of $6.8bn (£4.2bn) earlier this week, boosted by earnings from its stake in Alibaba. | The firm reported third-quarter profits of $6.8bn (£4.2bn) earlier this week, boosted by earnings from its stake in Alibaba. |
| The Nikkei's lull comes after a more upbeat day for the index on Wednesday, when Japanese investor sentiment was boosted by official trade figures that showed a rapid increase in exports during September. | |
| The world's third-largest economy said its exports jumped 6.9% from a year earlier - the strongest rise for seven months - although official data showed its trade deficit for the month still widened. | |
| Also in Japan, shares of Takata, a firm that makes airbags for cars, were down by more than 4% after US car safety regulators expanded a recall of vehicles with potentially dangerous Takata airbags to 7.8 million. | Also in Japan, shares of Takata, a firm that makes airbags for cars, were down by more than 4% after US car safety regulators expanded a recall of vehicles with potentially dangerous Takata airbags to 7.8 million. |
| In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.7% lower, despite HSBC's factory purchasing managers index (PMI) reading for small and medium-sized factories in China coming in slightly ahead of expectations. | |
| Investors pay attention to numbers on China's factory activity, and while the HSBC reading was positive, up from 50.2 in September to 50.4 in October, sub index figures showed that factory output had fallen to a five-month low. | |
| "While the manufacturing sector likely stabilised in October, [China's] economy continues to show signs of insufficient effective demand," HSBC said. | "While the manufacturing sector likely stabilised in October, [China's] economy continues to show signs of insufficient effective demand," HSBC said. |
| In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was also down more than 0.3%. | In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was also down more than 0.3%. |
| In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1%, falling from one-month highs, following Wall Street's lead. And in South Korea, the Kospi index was hovering in negative territory, lower by 0.6%. | |