Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as stocks wilted under pressure amid concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy, despite US Fed officials reassuring markets that the world's largest economy is not headed for a recession. Heightened geopolitical tensions are also weighing on the markets. Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.

The Australian market is notably lower on Thursday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 7,700 level, with weakness across most sectors led by miners and energy stocks amid tumbling metal prices. Some technology stocks gained.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 28.30 points or 0.37 percent to 7,671.50, after hitting a low of 7,644.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 32.50 points or 0.41 percent to 7,880.60. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are losing almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is down almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent, Beach energy is declining almost 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.4 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is adding more than 1 percent and Appen is advancing more than 3 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.5 percent and Zip is down almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 percent each, while ANZ Banking Is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is declining almost 5 percent, Gold Road Resources is losing almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is slipping almost 3 percent, Newmont is sliding almost 4 percent and Resolute Mining is plunging almost 7 percent.

In other news, shares in AMP Ltd. are surging more than 10 percent after the financial services giant reported a higher net profit in the half-year. It also declared an interim partially franked dividend.

Shares in Myer dropped more than 7 percent following a trading update that it expected a lower net profit, due to challenging trading conditions, the impact of store closures and inflationary cost pressures.

Shares in Mirvac plunged almost 12 percent after the property developer, investor and fund manager forecast lower earnings and distributions in the 2025 financial year as higher costs eat into margins on its apartment projects.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.655 on Thursday.

Adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is modestly higher on Thursday after opening in the red, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 35,100 level, with some traders picking up stocks at a bargain after recent sell-off.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 35,148.10, up 58.48 points or 0.17 percent, after hitting a low of 34,207.16 and a high of 35,222.15 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is plunging more than 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 1 percent, while Honda is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing more than 3 percent, Screen Holdings is declining almost 5 percent and Advantest is slipping more than 5 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.3 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is declining more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is gaining more than 2 percent and Sony is adding almost 3 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 2 percent and Panasonic is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among other major losers, Sumco is plummeting more than 18 percent, Shiseido is plunging 15.5 percent and Taiyo Yuden is sliding more than 11 percent, while Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Sumitomo Metal Mining are declining more than 8 percent each. Disco and Olympus are losing more than 6 percent each. Renesas Electronics, Socionext, Chiba Bank and Isetan Mitsukoshi are down almost 5 percent each, while Hitachi and Keyence are losing more than 4 percent each.

Conversely, Lasertec is skyrocketing more than 22 percent, Isuzu Motors is soaring 10.5 percent, Nitori Holdings is surging more than 8 percent, Asahi Group is gaining more than 7 percent and Sumitomo Pharma is adding almost 6 percent, while Mitsubishi Logistics and Idemitsu Kosan are advancing more than 4 percent each. Mercari, NH Foods and Daiwa House Industry are rising almost 4 percent each, while Nichirei, Toto, Nikon, Sapporo Holdings and Keisei Electric Railway are advancing more than 3 percent each.

In economic news, Japan posted a current account surplus of 1.533 trillion yen in June, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday - up 0.9 percent on year. That was shy of expectations for a surplus of 1.790 trillion yen following the 2.850 trillion yen surplus in May.

Imports were up 3.4 percent on year at 8.612 trillion yen, while exports rose an annual 5.9 percent to 9.169 trillion yen for a trade surplus of 556.3 billion yen. The capital account showed a deficit of 53.6 billion yen, while the financial account had a shortfall of 1.716 trillion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 146 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is down 1.3 percent, while New Zealand, China, South Korea and Indonesia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each. Singapore is bucking the trend and is up 0.1 percent. Hong Kong and Malaysia are relatively flat. On Wall Street, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday after extending yesterday's rebound early in the session. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs and into negative territory.

The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq slumped 171.05 points or 1.1 percent to 16,195.81, the S&P 500 slid 40.53 points or 0.8 percent to 5,199.50 and the Dow fell 234.21 points or 0.6 percent to 38,763.45.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index soared 1.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index spiked by 1.8 percent and the German DAX Index shot up by 1.5 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday as data showed a much larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $2.03 or 2.75 percent at $75.23 a barrel.