Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious about escalating tensions in the Middle East following Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel. Stronger-than-expected U.S. private sector employment data also dimmed prospects of aggressive rate cuts by the US Fed. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

The Australian market is trading slightly lower on Thursday, adding to the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving a tad above the 8,200 level, as traders remain cautious amid the escalating tensions in the Middle East following Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 0.20 points or 0.00 percent to 8,198.00, after touching a high of 8,221.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 3.00 points or 0.04 percent to 8,466.90. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent. Mineral Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy, Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are losing more than 1 percent each, while Xero and Zip are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Westpac is losing more than 1 percent and ANZ Banking is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent, Resolute Mining is losing more than 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.1 percent and Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in September, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Thursday with a services PMI score of 50.5. That’s down from 52.5 in August, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite index slipped into contraction with a PMI score of 49.6 in September, down from 51.7 in August.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$5.644 billion in August. That beat forecasts for a surplus of A$5.510 billion and was up from the upwardly revised A$5.636 billion surplus in July (originally A$5.009 billion). Exports were down 0.2 percent on month to A$43.227 billion after adding a downwardly revised 0.3 percent in the previous month (originally 0.7 percent). Imports also fell 0.2 percent to A$37.582 billion after slipping an upwardly revised 0.6 percent a month earlier (originally -0.8 percent).

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.688 on Thursday.

Recouping the losses in the previous session, the Japanese market is sharply higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving more than 2 percent to well above the 38,600 level, with gains across all sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

Traders reacted to Japan’s newly appointed Economy Minister’s comments that the central bank should be careful about raising rates again as it takes time to completely exit deflation.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,655.03, up 846.27 points or 2.24 percent, after touching a high of 38,856.75 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also adding more than 3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 3 percent and Honda is adding more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 3 percent, Advantest is adding more than 4 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing more than 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is losing almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.3 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Panasonic is advancing more than 3 percent.

Among other major gainers, M3 is soaring more than 8 percent, while Disco and Sumitomo Pharma are surging more than 6 percent each. TDK and Mazda Motor are gaining more than 5 percent each, while Mitsubishi Motors, Taiyo Yuden, Lasertec and Daiichi Sankyo are adding almost 5 percent each. Tokio Marine, Subaru, Renesas Electronics, Ajinomoto and JTEKT are advancing more than 4 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In economic news, the services sector in Japan continued to expand in September, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Thursday with a services PMI score of 53.1. That’s down from 53.7 in August, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The data also said the composite PMI slipped to 52.0 in September from 52.9 in August.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is slipping 3.3 percent, while Malaysia and Indonesia are down 0.3 and 0.7 percent, respectively. New Zealand and Singapore are up 0.7 and 0.1 percent, respectively. South Korea and China are closed for the National Day holiday, while Taiwan is closed for the second straight day due to Typhoon Krathon.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Wednesday after recovering from an early move to the downside. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing slightly higher.

The Dow edged up 39.55 points or 0.1 percent to 42,196.52, the Nasdaq inched up 14.76 points or 0.1 percent to 17,925.12 and the S&P 500 crept up 0.79 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,709.54.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices settled modestly higher on Wednesday as traders bet on a likely drop in supplies due the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November ended up $0.27 or 0.39 percent at $70.10 a barrel.