Asian Markets Show Mixed Trend

Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Friday, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders reacted to some upbeat U.S. earnings reports and the monetary policy announcements from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. Weak earnings updates from major companies, including Facebook parent Meta, also weighed on sentiment. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

Traders also remain worried and cautious amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus Omicron variant in most countries and the likely economic impact.

Meanwhile, traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report later in the day.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower in choppy trading on Friday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,100 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders reacted weak update and guidance from Facebook parent Meta as well as the monetary policy announcements from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.

Traders also remain concerned over the domestic Covid-19 cases, though on a steady decline. New South Wales records 10,698 new cases and 31 deaths on Thursday. Victoria reported 11,240 new cases and 36 deaths, Queensland recorded 6,857 new cases and 13 deaths, Tasmania reported 570 new cases, South Australia reported 1,300 new cases and three deaths, Northern Territory reported 1,306 new cases and ACT reported 449 new cases and one death.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 13.90 points or 0.20 percent to 7,064.10, after hitting a low of 7,045.90 and a high of 7,104.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 12.00 points or 0.16 percent to 7,362.60. Australian markets ended slightly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while BHP Group is down more than 1 percent and OZ Minerals is edging down 0.2 percent. Fortescue Metals is flat.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is edging down 0.3 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent and Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent. Woodside Petroleum is flat

Among tech stocks, Appen, Xero, WiseTech Global and Zip are all gaining more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is gaining more than 2 percent and Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.3 percent, while ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent and National Australia Bank is edging down 0.3 percent.

Gold miners are lower. Evolution Mining is edging up 0.1 percent and Gold Road Resources is gaining more than 2 percent, while Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent. Newcrest Mining and Resolute Mining are flat.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation reported a 13 percent uptick in revenue to $3.8 billion for the December quarter. The stock is up more than 4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.714 on Friday.

The Japanese stock market is trading modestly lower in choppy trading on Friday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 falling below the 27,200 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders reacted weak update and guidance from Facebook parent Meta as well as the monetary policy announcements from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.

Traders also remain concerned and cautious as daily new COVID-19 cases continues to hit new record levels for almost two week, with new cases of the fast-spreading coronavirus omicron variant topping the 1,00,000 mark for the first time on Thursday.

Japan is set to extending a COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency in Tokyo and 12 prefectures by two weeks from the original end date of February 13, with 34 of Japan’s 47 prefectures already under quasi-state of emergency to curb infections.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,233.83, down 7.48 points or 0.03 percent, after hitting a low of 27,075.99 earlier. Japanese shares closed significantly lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are losing almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are losing more than 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.5 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent, while Canon is edging down 0.4 percent and Sony is declining more than 1 percent. Panasonic is flat.

Among the other major losers, Nippon Sheet Glass is plunging almost 9 percent, Furukawa Electric is sliding more than 8 percent, Kao is losing 6.5 percent and Marubeni is down almost 5 percent, while Daiichi Sankyo, Fujikura, JTEKT, Toyota Tsusho and Nissan Motor are declining almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, Konami Holdings is soaring almost 12 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is surging almost 9 percent, while Chugai Pharmaceutical and Nippon Yusen K.K. are gaining almost 6 percent each. Nintendo is adding almost 5 percent and M3 is up more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 114 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is soaring 2.4 percent, while South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.9 percent each. New Zealand and Malaysia are down 0.8 and 0.2 percent, respectively. Markets in China and Taiwan remain closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.

On Wall Street, stocks ended sharply lower on Thursday, snapping a four-day winning streak, as disappointing earnings news and weak revenue guidance from Facebook parent Meta triggered widespread selling.

The major averages all ended with sharp losses. The Dow ended down by 518.17 points or about 1.45 percent at 35,111.16, not far off from the session’s low of 35,071.06. The S&P 500 declined 111.95 points or 2.44 percent to 4,477.43, while the tech-laden Nasdaq settled at 13,878.82, posting a loss of 538.73 points or 3.74 percent.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 declined 0.71 percent, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 shed 1.57 percent and 1.54 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices surged on Thursday as concerns about possible supply disruptions outweighed OPEC’s decision to increase crude output in March. Geopolitical concerns in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have raised concerns about supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $2.01 or 2.3 percent at a seven-year high $90.27 a barrel.

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