Asian Markets Mostly Lower Amid Cautions Trades

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Friday, following the mostly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with traders remaining cautious as concerns about the outlook for interest rates and a global recession continue following the release of a mixed batch of U.S. economic data. The situation in Chinese cities that doubled up on Covid restrictions to arrest widening outbreaks also weighed on market sentiment. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Friday, snapping a four-session winning streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to nearly the 6,800 level, following the mostly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors, led by materials and technology stocks, which mirrored their peers on Nasdaq amid disappointing quarterly reports from big technology companies.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 60.00 points or 0.88 percent to 6,785.10, after hitting a low of 6,783.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 69.50 points or 0.99 percent to 6,972.80. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are slipping more than 4 percent each, while OZ Minerals is down more than 1 percent, Mineral Resources is losing almost 4 percent and Fortescue Metals is plunging more than 7 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent and Beach energy is down almost 1 percent, while Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Santos is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Appen is losing more than 2 percent, Zip is down almost 2 percent and Xero is slipping almost 4 percent, while Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are declining more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are weak. Newcrest Mining is losing more than 2 percent, Evolution Mining is down almost 1 percent, Resolute Mining is slipping almost 5 percent, Gold Road Resources is declining more than 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is dipping almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.647 on Friday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 falling to nearly the 27,200 mark, following the mostly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with traders digesting domestic earnings reports and the announcement of a 71.6 trillion yen economic stimulus package by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,248.20, down 97.04 points or 0.35 percent, after hitting a low of 26,981.08. Japanese stocks closed modestly lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is surging more than 4 percent and Screen Holdings is up almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.5 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.

Among major exporters, Canon and Panasonic are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.5 percent each, while Sony is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Fanuc is plunging 6.5 percent, Hoya is losing 5.5 percent, Z Holdings is down more than 3 percent and Sharp is declining almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Hino Motors is surging more than 6 percent.

In economic news, the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in September, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That exceeded expectations for 2.5 percent, which would have been unchanged from the August reading. The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.34, beating forecasts for 1.33 and up from 1.32 in the previous month. The participation rate was 63.0 percent, above expectations for 62.9 percent, which would have been unchanged.

Overall consumer prices in the Tokyo region of Japan – considered a leading indicator for the nationwide trend – rose 3.5 percent on year in October, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That exceeded the expectations for an increase of 3.2 percent and was up from 2.8 percent in September. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, climbed an annual 3.4 percent. That also exceeded forecasts for 3.1 percent and accelerated from 2.8 percent in the previous month.

The Bank of Japan will also wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Friday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoJ is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at -0.1 percent, although it will reportedly unveil a $170 billion stimulus action.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 146 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is plunging 1.7 percent and China is down 1.0 percent, while South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each. Singapore is bucking the trend and is up 1.7 percent. New Zealand is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks spent much of Wednesday’s session on opposite sides of the unchanged line and turned in another mixed performance during trading on Thursday. While the Dow closed higher for the fifth straight session, reaching its best closing level in well over a month, the Nasdaq extended the sharp pullback seen in the previous session.

The Dow climbed 194.17 points or 0.6 percent to 32,033.28, the Nasdaq tumbled 178.32 points or 1.6 percent to 10,792.67 and the S&P 500 fell 23.30 points or 0.6 percent to 3,807.30.

The major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session amid optimism about demand growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December were up $1.17 or 1.3 percent at $89.08 a barrel.

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