Asian Markets Trade Mixed

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, after Chinese and Australian officials warned of widespread shocks to the global economy from U.S. trade policy. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump signaled flexibility on upcoming reciprocal tariffs set to be imposed April 2. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

However, Trump said during the same remarks in the Oval Office that providing exceptions for one country means "you have to do that for all," furthering the uncertainty about his plans.

The Australian stock market is trading slightly lower on Monday, reversing the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling to near the 7,900.00 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 6.00 points or 0.08 percent to 7,925.20, after hitting a low of 7,899.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 10.30 points or 0.13 percent to 8,148.40. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.2 percent, Fortescue Metals is gaining more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is adding more than 3 percent, while BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent, Santos is edging up 0.4 percent and Beach energy is adding more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is advancing more than 1 percent, Zip is up almost 1 percent, Xero is edging up 0.2 percent and Appen is adding almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is losing more than 3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Newmont is edging up 0.3 percent. Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.4 percent and Resolute Mining is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in Helia are plummeting almost 26 percent after the lender mortgage insurance provided an update on its supply and service contract with Commonwealth Bank, which may not run beyond December 31 as the banking giant is in exclusive talks with an alternative mortgage insurers.

Shares in James Hardie Industries are tumbling more than 12 percent after striking a deal to merge with NYSE-listed AZEK in a cash and share transaction worth $8.8 billion (A$14 billion).

Shares in Synlait Milk are also slumping more than 9 percent as the milk producer's latest result failed to impress investors. That was despite Synlait swinging back to profit and posting a 105 percent spike in profit.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in March, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.6. That's up from 50.4 in February, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI improved to 51.2 from 50.8 in the previous month, and the composite PMI went up to 51.3 from 50.6 a month earlier.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.627 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is relatively flat in choppy trading on Monday, after the losses in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The Nikkei 225 is staying below the 37,700 level, with gains is index heavyweights offset by weakness in exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,676.97, down 0.09 points or 0.00 percent, after touching a high of 37,841.68 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.1 percent and Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is declining more than 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.3 percent. Advantest is flat.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are declining more than 1 percent each.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent and Canon is declining almost 1 percent, while Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are edging down 0.1 and 0.4 percent each.

Among the other major gainers, DeNA is gaining more than 5 percent and CyberAgent is adding almost 3 percent.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in March, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 48.3. That's down from 49.0 in February, and it moved further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The services sector also slipped into contraction, falling to 49.5 in March from 53.7 in February.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia is down 2.1 percent, while China and Hong Kong are down 0.1 and 0.3 percent, respectively. New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are all up 0.1 percent each. South Korea is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant recovery over the course of the trading day on Friday after moving sharply lower early in the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day and into positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq saw a notable advance going into the close, ending the day up 92.43 points or 0.5 percent at 17,784.05 after tumbling by as much as 1.2 percent in early trading. The Dow and the S&P 500 posted more modest gains. The Dow inched up 32.03 points or 0.1 percent to 41,985.35 and the S&P 500 crept up 4.67 points or 0.1 percent to 5,667.56.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both slid by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices bounced higher on Friday on geopolitical tensions after new U.S. sanctions against a Chinese refinery that purchased Iranian oil. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery climbed $0.23 or 0.3 percent to $68.30 a barrel.