Asian Markets Mostly In Red

Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Thursday following negative cues overnight from Wall Street as bond yields rose again after trending lower over the past few sessions, fueling inflation concerns. Surging oil prices is also weighing on the market amid speculation that OPEC+ producers might decide against increasing output at a key meeting later today. Asian stocks closed notably higher on Wednesday.

The Australian stock market is lower on renewed selling pressure on Thursday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 treading towards the 6,700 level as investors are cautious following negative Wall Street cues overnight. Precious metal miners are deep into the red after a sharp decline in gold prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 75.20 points or 1.10 percent to 6,742.80, after touching a low of 6,716.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 77.50 points or 1.10 percent to 6,990.40. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Wednesday.

The major miners are lower. Fortescue Metals is losing more than 2 percent and Rio Tinto is down over 1 percent, while BHP Group is declining almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed, with Oil Search edging down 0.2 percent, while Santos is up nearly 1 percent. Woodside Petroleum is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.3 percent each, while ANZ Banking an National Australia Bank are rising more than 1 percent each.

Meanwhile, tech stocks are lower. Appen is losing more than 3 percent and WiseTech Global is down almost 3 percent, while Afterpay is losing almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are declining after gold prices touched a nine-month low overnight. Evolution Mining is losing more than 3 percent, while Newcrest Mining is down more than 2 percent. Northern Star Resources is declining nearly 4 percent.

In economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Australia had a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$10.142 billion in January, the largest trade surplus on record. That easily beat forecasts for a surplus of A$6.5 billion following the upwardly revised A$7.133 billion surplus in December (originally A$6.785 billion).

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also said the total value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent at A$30.512 billion on month in January. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.6 percent following the 4.1 percent decline in December. On a yearly basis, the value of retail sales was up 10.6 percent.

The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 treading around the 29,000 level, driven by a huge selloff in technology shares. It also tracked weak cues overnight from Wall Street on renewed concerns over bond yields.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 29,004.41, down 554.69 points or 1.88 percent, after hitting a low of 28,986.02 earlier. Japanese shares closed higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is declining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing nearly 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is lower by more than 1 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging down 0.4 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is adding almost 1 percent, while Canon is losing more than 2 percent, Panasonic is declining more than 1 percent and Sony is down almost 3 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Hitachi Zosen in rising almost 17 percent, and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is adding more than 5 percent and Mitsui OSK Lines is up more than 3 percent, while Shinsei Bank, Tosoh Corp., Nippon Yusen and Tokai Carbon are all higher by nearly 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sumitomo Metal Mining is losing more than 6 percent and Z Holdings is lower by over 4 percent. Mitsuii Mining & Smelting, Pacific Metals and Mitsui E&S Holdings are all declining almost 4 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 107 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are losing almost 2 percent, while South Korea, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Malaysia are down between 0.4 to 1.4 percent. Singapore is edging higher.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, extending the pullback seen in the previous session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed another particularly steep drop, tumbling to its lowest closing level in nearly two months.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session at their worst levels of the day. The Nasdaq plunged 361.04 points or 2.7 percent to 12,997.75, the S&P 500 slumped 50.57 points or 1.3 percent to 3,819.72 and the Dow fell 121.43 points or 0.4 percent to 31,270.09.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

Crude oil futures were sharply higher Wednesday amid speculation that OPEC may decide to extend production curbs for the near future. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended up $1.53 or 2.62 percent at $61.28 a barrel.

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