Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as concerns over a global trade war reignited after US President Donald Trump's latest tariff announcements. He newly indicated plans for 25 percent "reciprocal" tariffs on European autos and other goods. Asian Markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

During the first official Cabinet meeting of his new administration, Trump reiterated he is "not stopping" previously delayed tariffs on Canada and Mexico. While a 30-day pause on those tariffs is set to expire on March 4, Trump indicated the tariffs would take effect on April 2, the same day he purportedly plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on other U.S. trade partners.

Slightly easing worries about U.S.-Ukraine tensions after the two nations agreed on a minerals deal, helped keep investor sentiment a bit positive

The Australian market is trading notably higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 8,300 level, with gains in mining and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 32.30 points or 0.39 percent to 8,273.00, after touching a high of 8,300.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 35.50 points or 0.42 percent to 8,512.80. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and are adding almost 1 percent, BHP Group is edging up 0.4 percent and Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 1 percent, while Mineral Resources are losing more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos is edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each. Beach energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Xero is edging down 0.2 percent, Zip is declining more than 4 percent, WiseTech Global is down more than 2 percent and Appen is tumbling more than 9 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.3 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Newmont are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining is advancing almost 2 percent, Resolute Mining is surging more than 4 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.4 percent.

In other news, shares in Eagers Automotive are soaring more than 20 percent after the car dealership group said had outperformed its market despite a 25 per cent slide in profit.

Shares in Ramsay Health Care are jumping almost 13 percent after Australia's largest private hospital operator appointed Goldman Sachs to advise on a potential sale of its 52.8 percent controlling stake in European business Santé, which had been pushed by shareholders.

Shares in IDP Education are diving almost 11 percent after earnings tumbled by 40 percent due to a contraction in the international student market.

Shares in Medibank are soaring almost 11 percent after it reported higher interim net profit and hiked its dividend 8.3 percent.

Shares in Qantas are advancing almost 4 percent after the airline handed down a $1.4 billion interim profit and elected to return money to shareholders via a special dividend rather than increasing its buyback program.

In economic news, the total value of new capital expenditure in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at A$43.961 billion. That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.6 percent following the 1.1 percent gain in the previous three months. On a yearly basis, capex was up 0.6 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.631 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is trading modestly higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 38,200 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,198.96, up 56.59 points or 0.15 percent, after touching a high of 38,369.96 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 2 percent, while Honda is edging down 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent, while Sony and Canon are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among other major gainers, Fujikura is surging almost 7 percent, while Itochu and Socionext are gaining almost 5 percent each. Sumitomo Electric Industries and Sompo Holdings are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Ebara, Kuraray and Nissan Motor are adding more than 3 percent each. Subaru, Kanadevia, Hino Motors and Resonac Holdings are gaining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Seven & I Holdings is plunging almost 10 percent, M3 is losing more than 4 percent and Tokyo Electric Power is declining almost 4 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.2 and 0.9 percent each, while New Zealand is up 0.7 percent. Singapore is relatively flat. On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside early in the session on Wednesday but gave back ground over the course of the trading day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, although the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 managed to close in positive territory.

After surging by as much as 1.3 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day up 48.88 points or 0.3 percent to 19,075.26. The S&P 500 eked out a more modest gain, inching up 0.81 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,956.06, while the narrower Dow bucked the uptrend and slid 188.04 points or 0.4 percent to 43,433.12.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index shot up by 1.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand as the Trump administration's tariff policies are expected to slow global economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April settled lower by $0.31 at $68.62 a barrel.