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April natural gas NGJ15, +0.26% fell 16.5 cents, or 5.8%, to end at $2.697 per million British thermal units on its first full trading day as a front-month contract.
Natural-gas prices, meanwhile, dropped by almost 6% after U.S. government data showed that supplies fell less than expected last week despite the bitter cold in the eastern U.S.
Oil futures on Thursday settled at their lowest level in nearly a month, with strength in the U.S. dollar adding insult to injury to a market that is already suffering from record-high crude supplies in the U.S.
April crude CLJ5, +1.91% dropped $2.82, or 5.5%, to settle at $48.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest close for a most-active contract since late January.
Futures prices for gold rallied for a second straight session on Thursday to mark their highest settlement in more than a week.
Gold for April delivery GCJ5, -0.10% rose $8.60,or 0.7%, to settle at $1,210.10 an ounce on Comex. That was the highest settlement for a most-active contract since Feb. 18.
Here are the latest trading levels for Asia's major stock markets:
Tokyo (Nikkei Average NIK, -0.08% ) up 0.2%
Hong Kong (Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.56% ) up 0.5%
Shanghai (Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +0.58% ) up 0.6% at break
Sydney (S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.34% ) up 0.2%
Seoul (Kospi SEU, -0.13% ) down 0.1%
Mumbai (Sensex 1, +0.40% ) up 0.5%
Taipei (Taiex Y9999, -0.80% ) closed for holiday
Asian markets were largely flat in morning trade Friday after the dollar firmed on US inflation data, while disappointing Japanese figures challenged Tokyo's war on falling prices.
Japanese inflation slowed for a sixth straight month in January - dampened by weak consumer spending and falling energy prices - its lowest level since Tokyo launched an offensive on falling prices and tepid growth nearly two years ago.
Tokyo ticked up 0.07 per cent, Hong Kong added 0.54 per cent and Shanghai edged down 0.08 percent. Seoul slipped 0.12 per cent while Sydney was up 0.37 per cent and Wellington added 0.08 per cent. Markets in Taiwan were closed for a public holiday.
