Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders fretted about the impact of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on inflation and interest rates. The US dollar also strengthened against major currencies in the region. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

There is some uncertainty about the likelihood of future rate cuts after US consumer price inflation data came in line with estimates. CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 82.3 percent chance of another quarter point rate cut in December but a 60.2 percent chance rates will then be left unchanged in January.

The Australian market is trading slightly higher on Thursday, snapping the three-session losing streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,200 level, with gains in technology, energy and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 12.90 points or 0.16 percent to 8,206.30, after touching a high of 8,239.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 8.00 points or 0.10 percent to 8,458.90. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.1 percent and Fortescue Metals is losing more than 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is gaining more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is edging up 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent, while Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are adding almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Appen is adding more than 1 percent and Xero is surging 6.5 percent, while WiseTech Global and Zip are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 2 percent, while National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining more than 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is slipping 3.5 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining more than 2 percent and Newmont is edging down 0.4 percent.

In economic news, the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday – unchanged from the previous month and in line with expectations. The Australian economy added 15,900 jobs, which missed forecasts for an increase of 25,200 jobs following the addition of 64,100 in September.

Full-time employment increased by 9,700 to 10,037,700 people, while part-time employment increased by 6,200 to 4,499,800 people. The participation rate was 67.1 percent, shy of expectations for 67.2 percent – which would have been unchanged. Monthly hours worked increased to 1.972 billion.

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

Reversing some of losses in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is slightly higher on Thursday after briefly slipping in to the red, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is staying above the 38,700 level, with gains in exporters, automakers and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in index heavyweights and technology stocks

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,761.02, up 39.36 points or 0.10 percent, after touching a high of 39,084.44 and a low of 38,621.88 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining 1.5 percent and Honda is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing more than 3 percent, Advantest is down more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is adding almost 2 percent, Sony is up almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is advancing 2.5 percent and Panasonic is gaining almost 3 percent.

Among other major losers, Kansai Electric Power is plummeting more than 16 percent, Toppan Holdings is plunging more than 6 percent, Sumitomo Pharma is sliding more than 5 percent, Kuraray is slipping almost 5 percent and Lasertec is losing more than 4 percent, while Isetan Mitsukoshi and Dai Nippon Printing are declining almost 4 percent each. Sumco, JGC Holdings and Seven & I Holdings are down more than 3 percent each, while ZOZO is declining almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Mercari is surging more than 7 percent and Kubota is gaining more than 6 percent, while Sumitomo Electric Industries and Sapporo Holdings are adding more than 5 percent each. Furukawa Electric, Fanuc and Fujitsu are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are rising more than 3 percent each. Itochu, Mazda Motor and Mitsubishi Chemical Group are up almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 155 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 1.0 percent each, while New Zealand and South Korea are up 0.1 and 0.4 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the pullback seen in the previous session.

The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped 50.66 points or 0.3 percent to 19,230.74, the S&P 500 crept up 1.39 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,985.38 and the Dow inched up 47.21 points or 0.1 percent to 43,958.19.

The major European markets also finished the day narrowly mixed. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index inched up 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index dipped 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday thanks to short covering after recent sharp losses, while a firm dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December closed up $0.31 or 0.46 percent at $68.43 a barrel.