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 traders book some profits as they await a slew of crucial economic data, including reports on U.S. personal income and spending in July, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the US Fed. Asian Markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

While the data is not likely to affect optimism the Fed will lower rates next month, it could impact expectations for how quickly the central bank cuts rates.

The Australian market is notably lower on Thursday after closing flat in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying well below the 8,100 level, with weakness in mining and technology stocks, partially offset by gains financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 40.00 points or 0.50 percent to 8,031.40, after hitting a low of 8,017.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 40.20 points or 0.49 percent to 8,251.10. Australian stocks ended flat on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is edging down 0.4 percent and BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.2 percent. Mineral Resources is plummeting more than 11 percent after skipping final dividend for the first time in more than a decade amid soft lithium prices.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is losing almost 2 percent and Santos is declining more than 1 percent, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.2 percent each

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 3 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are down almost 1 percent each. Appen is gaining almost 1 percent and Zip is advancing more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are declining more than 1 percent each, while Newmont is edging down 0.3 percent. Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Cettire are tumbling more than 12 percent after the online fashion retailer reported a 34 percent drop in annual profit which also missed estimates.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.679 on Thursday.

Giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is modestly lower on Thursday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 38,300 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,220.34, down 151.42 points or 0.39 percent, after hitting a low of 37,970.20 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent, while Honda is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing more than 1 percent, Screen Holdings slipping more than 2 percent and Advantest is edging down 0.5 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Canon is edging down 0.1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 1 percent and Sony is declining 1.5 percent, while Panasonic is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among other major losers, Nidec is losing more than 4 percent and ZOZO is sliding almost 4 percent, while Rakuten Group, Shiseido and Sumitomo Pharma are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sompo Holdings and Taiyo Yuden are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-144 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is down 1.4 percent, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and South Korea are lower by between 0.6 and 0.8 percent each. Malaysia and Indonesia are up 0.6 and 0.1 percent, respectively. Singapore is relatively flat. On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday, with weakness in the tech sector weighing on the broader markets. With the downward move on the day, the Dow pulled back off the record closing high set on Tuesday.

The major averages climbed well off their worst levels in the latter part of the session but remained in the red. The tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 198.79 points or 1.1 percent to 17,556.03, the S&P 500 slid 33.62 points or 0.6 percent to 5,592.18 and the Dow fell 159.08 points or 0.4 percent to 41,091.42.

Meanwhile, European stocks moved mostly higher on the day. The German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 and the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices dropped Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for global oil demand, and on data showing a much smaller than expected drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October sank $1.01 or 1.34 percent at $74.52 a barrel.