Asian shares pull back, chilled by decline on Wall Street

Asian shares fell Thursday after a retreat on Wall Street as banks and health care companies pulled the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average back from their latest record highs.

Shares fell in most major regional markets and oil prices also declined.

In Seoul, the Kospi edged 0.2% higher, to 3,030.56, after Samsung Electronics reported its highest quarterly profit in three years thanks to continued robust demand for its computer memory chips.

Samsung’s dual strength in parts and finished products has allowed it to flourish during the pandemic as millions of people were forced to work at home. However, the company said it was dealing with “longer-than-expected” component shortages that may affect the demand for semiconductors during the current quarter.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.8% to 28,867.56 after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy unchanged at a meeting that wrapped up Thursday.

The central bank warned of downward pressure on the world's third largest economy from the pandemic and from “supply-side constraints" like shipping delays and bottlenecks and shortages of computer chips and other manufacturing materials.

It downgraded its growth forecast for the fiscal year ending in March to 3.4% from the 3.8% estimate it issued in July. It forecast that inflation would be 0.0% this year, a sharp decrease from its earlier forecast of 0.9%.

But it also said it expects improvement as the impact of COVID-19 gradually wanes, “mainly due to widespread vaccinations, the economy is likely to recover, supported by an increase in external demand, accommodative financial conditions, and the government’s economic measures," it said.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up 0.1% to 25,613.61, while the Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.1% to 3,524.93. The...