Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Thursday, following the mostly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious amid concerns about growth and the outlook for interest rates. Data on US manufacturing activity in February added to recent concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates. Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.

The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,300 level, despite the mostly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, aided by gains in materials and energy stocks amid a spike in commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 1.70 points or 0.02 percent to 7,253.30, after touching a high of 7,282.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 2.30 points or 0.03 percent to 7,458.40. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 4 percent each, while BHP Group is adding more than 3 percent and Mineral Resources is up almost 1 percent. OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent, Santos is adding almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is advancing more than 2 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Xero is losing almost 2 percent. Appen is edging up 0.4 percent and Zip is flat. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Westpac is edging down 0.2 percent and ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining are gaining almost 3 percent each, while Evolution Mining is adding more than 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is up almost 2 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In economic news, the total number of buildings approved in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 27.6 percent on month in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at 12,065. That was well shy of expectations for a drop of 8.0 percent following the downwardly revised 15.3 percent spike in December (originally 18.5 percent).

On a yearly basis, permits for overall buildings shed 8.4 percent, while permits for houses sank 12.0 percent and permits for other than houses eased 0.3 percent. The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of total building approved fell 18.6 percent in January, following a 1.0 percent rise in December.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.674 on Thursday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Thursday after being in the green most of the morning session, giving up the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 27,500 level, following the mostly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by weakness in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,495.69, down 20.84 points or 0.08 percent, after hitting a low of 27,408.54 and a high of 27,617.80 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly higher on Wednesday.

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

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging down 0.3 percent and Tokyo Electron is losing more than 1 percent, while Advantest is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each. Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.1 percent, while Canon and Sony are losing almost 1 percent each. Panasonic is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Sumitomo Metal Mining is gaining almost 4 percent and Dowa Holdings is adding almost 3 percent.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In economic news, the monetary base in Japan was down 1.6 percent on year in February, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday, coming in at 646.440 trillion yen. That beat forecasts for a drop of 3.2 percent following the 3.8 percent decline in January. The adjusted monetary base was up 31.1 percent on year to 657.838 trillion yen, slowing from 43.8 percent in January.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 136 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each, while China, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each. On Wall Street, stocks continued to experience choppy trading on Wednesday following the lackluster performance seen in the previous session. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

Eventually, the Dow ended the day up 5.14 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 32,661.84, while the Nasdaq slid 76.06 points or 0.7 percent to 11,379.48 and the S&P 500 fell 18.76 points or 0.5 percent at 3,951.39.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. Crude oil futures settled at near two-week high on Wednesday, boosted by upbeat China factory data that raised the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed $0.64 or 0.8 percent at $77.69 a barrel.