Asian Markets Mostly Lower On Global Cues

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, amid a sell-off on continuing concerns over the outlook for interest rates and potential recession as traders look ahead to the annual Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday in Wyoming, where US Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to sound a more hawkish tone in his comments. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

Remarks from several Fed officials that the central bank needs to be aggressive with monetary tightening to tame inflation also weighed on sentiment. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said central bankers were inclined towards faster, front-loaded interest rate increases, even if that meant risking a U.S. economic recession. Aggressive monetary tightening by central banks in Europe added to the nervous sentiment.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weakness in technology and financial stocks as traders remain concerned over the outlook for interest rates and rising inflation.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 38.40 points or 0.55 percent to 7,008.50, after hitting a low of 6,993.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 39.80 points or 0.55 percent to 7,247.40. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is edging down 0.3 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 2 percent, BHP Group is adding more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.1 percent. OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher, with Woodside Energy and Santos gaining more than 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Beach energy edging up 0.1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Appen is adding almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.3 percent, while Zip is slipping more than 3 percent, Xero is losing almost 1 percent and Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Newcrest Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is advancing more than 2 percent and Resolute Mining is rising 3.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent, while Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are declining more than 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Altium are skyrocketing more than 19 percent after the PCB design software firm reported upbeat full-year results as well as raised revenue outlook and final dividend.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in August, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from S&P Global showed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 54.5. That’s down from 55.7 in July, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50. The survey also showed that the services PMI fell into contraction, slipping to a score of 49.6 in August from 50.9 in July. The composite index also slumped to 49.8 from 51.1 a month earlier.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.690 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 28,500 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with particular weakness in exporters, technology and financial stocks as traders remain concerned over the outlook for interest rates and rising inflation.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 28,456.92, down 337.58 points or 1.17 percent, after hitting a low of 28,395.30 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are losing more than 2 percent each.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.4 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 1 percent each. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing more than 1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are down almost 1 percent each.

The major exporters are weak, with Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic losing almost 2 percent each, while Sony is declining almost 3 percent and Canon is down more than 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Hino Motors is plunging more than 5 percent, while M3, Denso and NEXON are losing more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Inpex is gaining more than 4 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in August, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from Jibun Bank showed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.0. That’s down from 52.1 in July, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50. The survey also showed that the services PMI fell into contraction, slipping to a score of 49.2 in August from 50.3 in July. The composite index also slumped to 48.9 from 50.6 a month earlier.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 137 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.2 and 1.0 percent, while Indonesia is bucking the trend and is up 0.9 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks tumbled right at the stroke of the opening bell on Monday and stayed weak right through the day’s session, extending losses from the previous session. The Dow and the S&P 500 suffered their worst session since mid-June.

The major averages all ended notably lower. The Dow ended down 643.13 points or 1.91 percent at 33,063.61. The S&P 500 drifted down 90.49 points or 2.14 percent to 4,137.99, while the Nasdaq settled with a loss of 323.64 points or 2.55 percent at 12,381.57.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended 0.22 percent down, Germany’s DAX dropped 2.32 percent, and France’s CAC 40 declined 1.8 percent.

Crude oil prices moved lower on Monday on concerns about outlook for energy demand, while the dollar’s strength also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.54 or 0.6 percent at $90.23 a barrel.

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