Asian Markets Trade Mixed

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Thursday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are cautious and remain on the sidelines ahead of key U.S. economic data due this week and next week's US presidential election. They also continue to assess the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

Traders looked ahead to a slew of U.S. economic data, including personal income and spending, which includes the US Fed's preferred inflation readings, as well as tech megacap earnings for directional cues.

The Australian market is trading modestly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 8,200 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors as a mixed domestic quarterly inflation report reduced expectations for an immediate rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 40.30 points or 0.49 percent to 8,140.10, after hitting a low of 8,129.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 37.10 points or 0.44 percent to 8,402.40. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is adding almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is skyrocketing almost 17 percent after it struck a $1.1 billion deal to sell its oil and gas assets to Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.1 percent, Zip is advancing almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent, while Xero is losing almost 1 percent and Appen is down 1.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.5 percent, while National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is surging more than 4 percent, while Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent and Newmont is declining more than 2 percent. Resolute Mining is flat

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.657 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is notably lower on Thursday, Giving up some of the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 39,100 level, with weakness in index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks as traders are cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,116.79, down 160.60 points or 0.41 percent, after hitting a low of 38,987.33 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also down more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing almost 1 percent and Honda is also down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is declining 2.5 percent, while Advantest is surging almost 6 percent after boosting its profit forecasts amid strong demand for its AI-related testing tools.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial edging up 0.1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Canon and Panasonic are losing 1.5 percent each, while Sony is down almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among other major losers, M3 is plummeting more than 13 percent, Kyocera is plunging more than 11 percent, Nomura Research Institute is sliding more than 8 percent and Hitachi is slipping almost 8 percent, while Nidec and CyberAgent are declining more than 6 percent each. Renesas Electronics is losing almost 6 percent, while Alps Alpine and Hino Motors are down more than 4 percent each. Kansai Electric Power is losing almost 4 percent, while Omron, Mitsubishi Logistics, Sumitomo Pharma, Tokyo Electric Power and TDK are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Mitsubishi Motors is soaring almost 10 percent, Tokyo Gas is gaining more than 5 percent and Oriental Land is adding almost 4 percent.

In economic news, the value of retail sales in Japan was up 0.5 percent on year in September, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry or METI, said on Thursday - coming in at 13.489 trillion yen. That missed forecasts for an increase of 2.1 percent and was down from 3.1 percent in the previous month. On a monthly basis, sales slipped 2.3 percent after rising 1.0 percent in August. For the third quarter of 2024, sales rose 1.1 percent on quarter and 2.1 percent on year to 41.610 trillion yen.

The METI also said industrial production in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent on month in September. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.9 percent following the 3.3 percent contraction in August. On a yearly basis, industrial production was down 2.8 percent. Upon the release of the data, the METI maintained its assessment of industrial production, saying that it continues to fluctuate indecisively.

Further, the Bank of Japan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Thursday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoJ is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 0.25 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 153 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is down 1.3 percent, while New Zealand and Taiwan are down 0.1 and 0.5 percent, respectively. Hong Kong and Indonesia are up 0.8 and 0.6 percent, respectively. Malaysia and Singapore are closed for Deepavali. China is relatively flat. On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the session on Wednesday but came under pressure in the latter part of the trading day. The major averages spent most of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before sliding more firmly into negative territory.

After reaching a new record intraday high in early trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 104.82 points or 0.6 percent to 18,607.93. The S&P 500 also dipped 19.25 points or 0.3 percent to 5,813.67, while the Dow slipped 91.51 points or 0.2 percent to 42,151.54.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both slumped by 1.1 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week and on reports that OPEC may delay its planned output increase. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December closed up $1.40 or 2.1 percent at $68.61 a barrel.