Business

Asian shares struggled to make any headway on Friday as weak U.S. manufacturing activity and uncertainty over how much further the Federal Reserve would cut rates added to the general air of caution in markets buffeted by global growth fears.

The U.S.-China trade war may blunt some of the stimulus on the U.S. housing market from expected further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, with only a modest outlook for price rises, a Reuters poll of property market experts found.

HP Inc said on Thursday Chief Executive Officer Dion Weisler is stepping down after nearly four years in the role, and forecast fourth quarter profit below Wall Street estimates, sending its shares down 6% in late trade.

The benchmark S&P 500 ended little changed on Thursday as a fall in U.S. jobless claims offset data showing a contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity while investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech on Friday for clues on the central bank's monetary policy.

U.S. President Donald Trump, faced with mounting anger in the farm belt over policies that allow oil refineries to use less corn-based ethanol, summoned Cabinet members on Thursday to discuss ways to boost biofuel demand, four sources familiar with the matter said.

Buyout firm KKR & Co Inc is exploring a sale of Epicor Software Corp that could value the U.S. enterprise resource planning software provider at close to $5 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.