Asian markets lower on fresh worries over Chinese developers

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index
NIK,
-0.81%
shed 0.7%, while South Korea’s Kospi
180721,
-0.70%
declined 0.6%. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200
XJO,
+0.46%
gained 0.4%. Stocks rose in Singapore
STI,
+0.53%
and Taiwan
Y9999,
+0.83%,
but dipped in Indonesia
JAKIDX,
-0.23%.

Jitters over troubles in the property sector flared after Kaisa Group
1638,
-15.13%,
a Chinese developer, announced that Hong Kong-traded shares in its companies were suspended after it failed make payments on wealth products it had guaranteed.

Tightened controls on borrowing by highly leveraged real estate companies have been rattling markets after one of the biggest, Evergrande Group
3333,
-2.97%,
failed to make payments on some of its debt.

On Thursday, the benchmark S&P 500
SPX,
+0.42%
rose 0.4% to 4,680.06, extending its winning streak to a sixth day. The index has notched a succession of record-high closes, often on days when the market got off to a downbeat start.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.09%
edged 0.1% lower to 36,124.23, ending the blue-chip index’s five-day winning streak, while the Nasdaq
COMP,
+0.81%
added 0.8% to 15,940.31.

On Wednesday, the Fed said it will begin reducing its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases in the coming weeks by $15 billion a month. The central bank could decide to raise its short-term interest rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, from near zero. Many market watchers concluded that the Fed was moving cautiously in dialing back its support, which is good news for Wall Street.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude
CLZ21,
+1.12%
lost $2.05 to $78.81, while Brent crude
BRNF22,
+1.02%,
the standard for international pricing, rose 62 cents to $81.17 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar
USDJPY,
-0.07%
fell to 113.68 Japanese yen from 113.75 Japanese yen.