Asian Markets A Sea Of Red

Asian stock markets are a sea of red on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as stronger than expected US employment data weighed heavily on the outlook for interest rates. It raised concerns that the US Fed will likely hold interest rates at current levels or slow down the pace of reductions. Rising bond yields also hurt. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.

The Australian stock market is currently trading sharply lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,200.00 level, with weakness in financial and technology stocks, partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks amid spiking commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 117.90 points or 1.42 percent to 8,176.20, after hitting a low of 8,170.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 126.20 points or 1.48 percent to 8,417.50. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 4 percent.

Oil stocks are higher. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 2 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are advancing almost 2 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 4 percent, WiseTech Global is slipping almost 4 percent and Appen is down 2.5 percent, while Xero and Zip are declining almost 3 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is edging up 0.4 percent, Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is adding more than 2 percent, while Newmont is edging down 0.4 percent and Resolute Mining is declining almost 5 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are losing 2.5 percent each, while Westpac is declining almost 3 percent and ANZ Banking is down almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in NRW Holdings are tumbling almost 9 percent after the company announced the resignation of chief financial officer Richard Simons following a two-year stint.

Shares in Novonix are slipping almost 5 percent after the US Department of Energy did not permit the battery materials producer to receive certain tax credits that would have made it eligible for an additional loan to fund its Tennessee facility.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.616 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is closed for The Aged Day on Monday. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are down 1.7 and 1.5 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.4 and 1.0 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks tumbled on Friday due to heavy selling across the board as buoyant non-farm payroll data raised concerns that the Federal Reserve will likely hold interest rates at current levels or slow down the pace of reductions. Rising bond yields hurt as well.

The major averages all closed sharply lower. The Dow settled with a loss of 696.75 points or 1.63 percent, at 41,938.45. The S&P 500 closed down 91.21 points or 1.54 percent, at 5,827.04, while the Nasdaq ended lower by 317.25 points or 1.63 percent, at 19,161.62.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index lost 0.5 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index closed down 0.86 percent, and the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.79 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday, riding on the Biden Administration’s decision to impose additional sanctions on Russia’s oil exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed higher by $2.65 or 3.6 percent at $76.57 a barrel, the highest settlement in three months.