CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as most currencies in the region weakened against the US dollar on economic concerns amid prospects of the US administration imposing tougher sanctions on firms exporting critical chipmaking equipment to China and suggestions of Taiwan being asked to pay the U.S. for defense. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.
Extending the losses in the previous session, the Australian stock market is significantly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,000 mark from recent all-time highs, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 81.90 points or 1.02 percent to 7,954.60, after hitting a low of 7,923.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 81.80 points or 0.99 percent to 8,190.90. Australian markets ended modestly lower on Thursday.
Among major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are losing almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is edging down 0.5 percent and Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Beach energy is edging up 0.3 percent. Santos is flat.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 5 percent, Zip is losing almost 3 percent and Xero is down almost 1 percent, while Appen is gaining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.2 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are declining more than 1 percent each.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is declining almost 5 percent. Newmont and Gold Road Resources are losing almost 3 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are slipping more than 3 percent each.
In other news, shares in Lifestyle Communities are plunging 15 percent after the land lease operator withdrew its guidance, blaming its decision on the media and uncertainty over its home-building business.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.670 on Friday.
Adding to the losses in the previous two sessions, the Japanese stock market is notably lower in choppy trading on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 40,000 mark, with a mixed performance across most sectors as traders reacted to latest domestic inflation data.
The data revealed that Japan's headline inflation rate remained unchanged at 2.8 percent in June, while the core inflation rate rose to 2.6 percent from 2.5 percent last year.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,952.62, down 173.73 points or 0.43 percent, after hitting a low of 39,824.58 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is flat and Toyota is edging down 0.1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining 2.5 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is edging up 0.2 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.2 percent and Mizuho Financial is losing almost 1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.4 percent.
Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric, Canon and Sony are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent.
Among other major losers, Disco is losing almost 5 percent, Astellas Pharma is declining almost 4 percent and Sumitomo Metal Mining is down more than 3 percent.
Conversely, Hoya is gaining more than 3 percent, while Fujikura and Renesas Electronics are adding almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 157 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are down between 1.3 and 2.0 percent, while China, New Zealand, Singapore and Indonesia are lower by between 0.3 and 0.9 percent each. Malaysia is bucking the trend and is up 0.1 percent.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday before coming under considerable selling pressure over the course of the session. With the downward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 added to the steep losses posted in the previous session.
The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow tumbled 533.06 points or 1.3 percent to 40,665.02, the Nasdaq fell 125.70 points or 0.7 percent to 17,871.22 and the S&P 500 slid 43.68 points or 0.8 percent to 5,544.59.
Meanwhile, the major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices eased slightly on Thursday concerns about the outlook for oil demand from China, while the dollar's recovery weighed as well on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.03 at $82.82 a barrel.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News