Sydney - Shares in Asia's developed markets succumbed to a bit of profit taking on Thursday, while the dollar struggled after the head of the Federal Reserve signalled the US economic recovery was still fragile and warned against sharp spending cuts.
Commodity prices including crude oil were subdued after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested US economic conditions were still too weak for the central bank to pull back on its vast monetary stimulus.
Japan's Nikkei was little changed, having dipped into negative territory earlier, while shares elsewhere in Asia shed 0.2 percent. South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.4 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was flat.
Among the bright spots, shares in Australian bourse operator ASX jumped more than 4 percent.
Investors are hoping that merger news between major bourses like the NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse would boost prospects of ASX's own planned merger with Singapore Exchange , which is facing political hurdles.
The dollar index , which tracks the greenback's performance against a basket of major currencies, was still shaky at 77.687, having suffered a steep decline overnight.
Still, many traders think the dollar is in a holding pattern for the near term as the euro was also lacking upward momentum of its own after the European Central Bank last week quelled expectations of an early rate hike.
The euro traded at $1.3717 , down slightly from late US Levels but still up about 1 percent on the week.
“It's difficult for now for the euro to rise above the peak hit earlier this month. It will need a fresh factor to go beyond that peak,” said Keiji Matsumoto, a strategist at Nikko Cordial Securities.
The Australian dollar dipped slightly in the wake of solid jobs numbers as investors bet they were not so strong as to make a rate rise more likely anytime soon.
US crude was little changed at $86.86 a barrel, while gold edged lower to $1,361.84 an ounce, well off a lifetime high around $1,430 hit in December. - Reuters