Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as weak commodity prices are triggering some heavy selling in energy and materials sectors. Some traders also looked to cash in on the recent strength in the markets following the U.S. elections and seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the highly anticipated report on US consumer price inflation later in the day. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.

Australian shares are trading significantly lower on Wednesday, adding to the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling well below the 8,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks amid weak commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 78.70 points or 0.95 percent to 8,176.90, after hitting a low of 8,139.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 79.70 points or 0.94 percent to 8,435.50. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent and Rio Tinto is declining more than 3 percent, while Fortescue Metals is flat. Mineral Resources is slipping almost 7 percent on news the lithium miner will put operations on hold at the Bald Hill site in Western Australia until spodumene prices improve.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are losing more than 1 percent each, while Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

In the tech space, Zip is losing almost 1 percent and Appen is declining almost 4 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 4 percent. WiseTech Global and Xero are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is declining more than 2 percent and ANZ Banking is slipping almost 5 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Newmont are losing 1.5 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.4 percent and Resolute Mining is declining more than 3 percent.

In other news, shares in Light & Wonder are slipping more than 6 percent after it reported a 15 percent rise in gaming revenue in the three months to the end of September, driven by global gaming machine sales growth. However, earnings per share fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Shares is James Hardie are surging are almost 6 percent after the building materials giant reaffirmed the lower end of its volume guidance, despite posting a 23 percent drop in net profit, citing a “challenging demand environment” for its products, particularly in Asia and Europe.

Shares in Selfwealth are skyrocketing 72 percent after it received a buyout offer from Bell Financial Group at 22¢ apiece, almost double yesterday’s closing price.

In economic news, the wage price index in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That was unchanged from the previous three months, although it was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.9 percent. Both the private sector and the public sector rose 0.8 percent for the quarter.

On a yearly basis, wage prices were up 3.5 percent – again short of forecasts for 3.6 percent and down from 4.1 percent in the second quarter.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Wednesday, extending to the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 39,000 mark, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,953.44, down 422.65 points or 1.07 percent, after hitting a low of 38,814.07 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down 1.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing 3.5 percent and Toyota is declining 1.5 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing more than 1 percent and Canon is down almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.5 percent and Panasonic is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among other major losers, NEXON is plummeting almost 14 percent and Sumitomo Metal Mining is sliding almost 8 percent, while Daiichi Sankyo and JGC Holdings are slipping more than 5 percent each. Japan Exchange is down more than 4 percent, while Hitachi, Recruit Holdings, Sumitomo Realty & Development, Tokyo Tatemono and DeNA are losing more than 3 percent each. Terumo, Konami Group, Yamaha Motor and Otsuka Holdings are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sharp is skyrocketing almost 13 percent and Resona Holdings is gaining almost 4 percent, while Marui Group and Furukawa Electric are adding almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 0.2 percent on month in October, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday. That exceeded expectations for a flat reading and was down from the upwardly revised 0.3 percent in September (originally flat).

On a yearly basis, producer prices climbed 3.4 percent – again beating forecasts for 2.9 percent and up from the upwardly revised 3.1 percent in the previous month (originally 2.9 percent). Export prices were flat on month and up 0.6 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices fell 0.2 percent on month and 2.1 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 154 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is down 1.4 percent, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia are higher by between 0.2 and 1.0 percent each. Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each.

On the Wall Street, stocks gave back ground during trading on Tuesday following the strong upward move seen in reaction to last week’s last elections. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the trading session before eventually closing in negative territory.

The Dow underperformed its counterparts, slumping 382.15 points or 0.9 percent to 43,910.98. The S&P 500 dipped 17.36 points or 0.3 percent to 5,983.99 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged down 17.36 points or 0.1 percent to 19,281.40.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index plunged by 2.7 percent, the German DAX Index tumbled by 2.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slid by 1.2 percent.

Crude oil prices edged up only a bit on Tuesday after OPEC lowered its global oil demand forecast for 2025, while the dollar’s continued strength hurt as well. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rose $0.08 at $68.12 a barrel.