Asian Markets Trade Mixed

Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid concerns over China-U.S. trade tensions, and potential new tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. U.S. President Donald Trump said he will announce 25 percent tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

Trump also said he will announce reciprocal tariffs on many countries, with the U.S. imposing tariffs on imports equal to the rates imposed on American exports.

The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Monday, extending the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,500.00 level, with weakness in technology and financial stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners and energy stocks.

The decline followed US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a blanket 25 tariff on all aluminum and steel imports, set to take effect later in the day.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 30.10 points or 0.35 percent to 8,481.30, after hitting a low of 8,445.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 32.70 points or 0.37 percent to 8,747.60. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is edging up 0.1 percent, Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Beach energy is advancing more than 3 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block, Xero and Zip are losing almost 1 percent each, while WiseTech Global is declining more than 5 percent. Appen is gaining more than 2 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing almost 5 percent. Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Star Entertainment Group are jumping almost 15 percent after the beleaguered casino operator said it would not accept proposals from Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium to take over its 50 per cent stake and debt in the Queen’s Wharf complex in Brisbane.

Shares in Ansell are surging almost 7 percent after the medical gear maker said it was planning price rises to offset US tariffs.

In economic news, the total number of building permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday – coming in at 15,174. That was in line with expectations following the 3.4 percent decline in November. The value of total residential building fell 0.9 percent on month to A$8.33 billion, while the value of non-residential building rose 9.7 percent to A$6.62 billion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.625 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly lower on Monday after opening in the red and briefly treading into the green, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The Nikkei 225 moving above the 38,800 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and exporter stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,746.96, down 40.06 points or 0.10 percent, after hitting a low of 38,606.32 and a high of 38,853.79 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is sliding more than 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 1 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is flat.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic is declining almost 2 percent, while Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are losing more than 1 percent each. Canon is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the other major gainers, DeNA is skyrocketing more than 23 percent, Taiyo Yuden is soaring almost 17 percent, Kawasaki Heavy Industries is surging more than 6 percent and JGC Holdings is gaining more than 5 percent, while Sumco, Japan Exchange Group and IHI are adding more than 4 percent each. Comsys Holdings is advancing almost 4 percent, while Murata Manufacturing and Mitsubishi Chemical Group are up more than 3 percent each. Yaskawa Electric, Shiseido and NEXON are rising almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Subaru and Taisei are losing almost 5 percent each.

In economic news, overall bank lending in Japan was up 3.0 percent on year in January, the Bank of Japan said on Monday – coming in at 635.707 trillion yen. That’s unchanged from the December reading following a downward revision from 3.1 percent. Excluding trusts, lending was up an annual 3.3 percent at 557.569 trillion yen, while lending from trusts rose 0.9 percent on year to 78.138 trillion yen. Lending from foreign banks jumped 13.3 percent to 4.910 trillion yen, slowing from the 23.0 percent jump in the previous month.

Japan posted a current account surplus of 1.077 trillion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday – up 17.8 percent on year. It was, however, shy of expectations for a surplus of 1.362 trillion yen and down from the 3.353 trillion yen surplus in November. Exports were down 0.9 percent on year at 9.473 trillion yen and imports dipped an annual 0.3 percent to 9.411 trillion yen for a surplus of 62.3 billion yen. The capital account saw a deficit of 18.4 billion yen, while the financial account had a surplus of 2.429 trillion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 152 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia is down 1.3 percent, while New Zealand, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea are higher by between 0.1 and 1.0 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Friday, giving back ground after trending higher over the past few sessions. The major averages turned negative within the first hour of trading and saw further downside as the day progressed.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq dove 268.59 points or 1.3 percent to 19,523.40, the Dow tumbled 444.23 points or 1.0 percent to 44,303.40 and the S&P 500 slumped 57.58 points or 1.0 percent to 6,025.99.

The major European markets all also moved lower on the day. The German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index declined by 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Iran’s crude exports, although a stronger dollar limited oil’s gains. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose $0.39 or 0.5 percent at $71.00 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 2 percent in the week.