A rebound in the dollar weighed on energy and material stocks.
The rise in oil prices helped push America's imports to a record $199.5 billion in October, even as the weaker dollar weighed on demand for other imported goods.
The Nikkei 225 average in Japan edged down 0.1percentt as the yen's firmness against the dollar weighed on exporters and offset gains in some commodities-linked shares.
The won's gains to a near 14-month high against the dollar weighed on exporters, with Hyundai Motor falling 2.1percentt.
Driven largely by the Federal Reserve's policy of printing dollars to help spur a healthy economic recovery that remains stubbornly elusive, the dollar, weighed against a basket of other currencies, hit a 40-year low this month.
The wider market had come under pressure for most of the day as some investors said stocks were extended after weeks of gains, while a stronger dollar weighed on the natural resource sector.
The sharp decline in the U.S. dollar weighed on Asian exporters.
Some U.S. multinationals have reported the dollar weighing on international sales, but it doesn't seem to be at levels yet that would necessarily cause major problems.
The largest retailer in the world, Wal-Mart, said Thursday that its first-quarter profits were flat compared to the same period last year, as effects from the stronger dollar weighed down its results.
In February 1872, the bill was amended by a House of Representatives committee to include authorization for a commercial dollar weighing 420 gr; this was struck three months later when the House voted to include provisions for the production of a standard silver dollar weighing 384 gr.
Yet growth is expected to moderate in 2019 as the effects of the tax cuts wane, while tariffs and a strong dollar weigh on the economy.
