Asian Markets Mostly Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Monday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, reflecting lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of this week’s release of the closely watched US inflation data. Markets also reflected the reaction to the latest batch of corporate earnings news across markets. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said it’s important for the U.S. central bank to continue to raise rates to ensure it brings inflation back to the 2 percent target.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower in choppy trading on Monday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just above the 7,400 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, dragged by weak earnings reports or disappointing corporate updates by some major companies.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 15.20 points or 0.20 percent to 7,418.50, after hitting a low of 7,406.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 14.40 points or 0.19 percent to 7,616.70. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.2 percent. Fortescue Metals and OZ Minerals are flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 2 percent, Origin Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Santos is advancing almost 2 percent., while Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Xero and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.4 percent and Zip is flat. Appen is plummeting more than 14 percent after it said it expects to incur non-cash, pre-tax impairment charges of about $200 million in the latest quarter.

Gold miners are mixed. Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.4 percent and Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources and Newcrest Mining are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.2 percent.

In other news, shares in Star Entertainment are plummeting more than 19 percent after the casino operator warned about up to $1.6 billion in writedowns.

Shares of some other companies also fell sharply on weak earnings reports or disappointing corporate updates. Aurizon Holdings was down 6.1 percent, Lynas Rare Earths 7.3 percent, JB Hi-Fi 3.9 percent and Lendlease Group 5.4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.691 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Monday, giving up the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 27,400 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, dragged by technology stocks which mirrored their peers on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,354.81, down 316.17 or 1.14 percent, after hitting a low of 27,266.94 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing 1.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining 3.5 percent, while Toyota is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings and Advantest are losing more than 2 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is slipping more than 4 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining 1.5 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Canon is losing more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is down almost 1 percent and Sony is slipping more than 2 percent, while Panasonic is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Shiseido is losing more than 5 percent, Nissan Chemical is down almost 5 percent and Olympus is declining more than 4 percent, while Dowa Holdings, Sumitomo Osaka Cement and Mitsubishi Materials are down almost 4 percent each. Taiheiyo Cement is slipping more than 3 percent, while Hoya, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumco are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Inpex is gaining almost 5 percent, while Daiwa House Industry and Resona Holdings are adding more than 3 percent each. JGC Holdings is up almost 3 precent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 131 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand and South Korea are down 1.0 percent, while Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each. China and Indonesia are up 0.6 and 0.1 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday following the significant downturn seen over the course of Thursday’s session. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw further downside, the Dow and the S&P 500 regained some ground.

The Nasdaq closed lower by 71.46 points or 0.6 percent to 11,718.12, while the Dow rose 169.39 points or 0.6 percent to 33,869.27. The S&P 500 spent most of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing up 8.96 points or 0.2 percent to 4,090.46.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index tumbled 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Friday on continued optimism about higher fuel demand from China, and on Russia’s move to reduce oil output next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $1.66 or 2.1 percent at $79.72 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 9 percent in the week.

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