CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as data showing a deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in February fueled bets on US Fed interest rate cuts this year. Worries about the potential impact of imminent tariffs by Trump administration on global economic growth limited the market's upside. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.
Fresh U.S. trade measures against China and U.S. President Donald Trump's comments that tariffs on Canada and Mexico 'will go forward' rekindled fears of a global trade war. Trump also stressed more broadly that his intended 'reciprocal' tariffs were on schedule to begin as soon as April.
Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,300 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining amid tumbling metal prices.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 24.80 points or 0.30 percent to 8,227.10, after hitting a low of 8,210.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 34.10 points or 0.40 percent to 8,463.90. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent, Fortescue Metals is slipping almost 5 percent, Rio Tinto is declining almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is down more than 3 percent.
Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 3 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent, while Santos is edging down 0.3 percent and Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Zip is edging up 0.2 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is slipping almost 4 percent, Xero is declining almost 1 percent and Appen is tumbling almost 32 percent after downbeat full-year results.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 1 percent, Westpac are edging up 0.4 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining more than 1 percent, while National Australia Bank is edging down 0.5 percent.
Among gold miners, Resolute Mining and Evolution Mining are declining more than 2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are losing almost 3 percent each. Newmont is slipping almost 2 percent.
In other news, shares in Flight Centre are tumbling almost 12 percent despite the travel booking service reporting a 7 percent growth in underlying profit as it set a record for productivity through automation.
Shares in Bapcor are jumping almost 15 percent after the car parts provider said costs and savings were expected to come in near the top end of a cost-cutting target range in 2024-25.
Shares in Worley are soaring almost 11 percent after the company announced a $500 million share buyback and reported a 72 percent jump in interim net profit.
Shares in PointsBet are skyrocketing more than 31 percent after the technology company received two takeover offers to buy the company.
Shares in Kelsian Group shed a fifth of its value, tumbling almost 19 percent after the company posted a 7.9 per cent fall in underlying profit.
In economic news, the value of total construction work done in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - coming in at A$73.936 billion. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 1.0 percent and down from 1.6 percent in the three months prior. On a yearly basis, construction work was up 1.8 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.633 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Wednesday, adding to the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 37,900 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,814.04, down 423.75 points or 1.11 percent, after hitting a low of 37,742.76 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.4 percent and Toyota is declining more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is slipping 5.5 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.4 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing 1.5 percent, Mizuho Financial is declining more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down almost 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Canon is losing more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 2 percent and Sony is edging down 0.4 percent, while Panasonic is gaining almost 1 percent.
Among other major losers, M3 is slipping almost 5 percent, Disco is losing more than 4 percent and Renesas Electronics is declining almost 4 percent, while IHI, Japan Steel Works, Resona Holdings and Ebara are down more than 3 percent each. DeNA, Subaru and Lasertec are sliding almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Sumco is surging more than 7 percent and Shiseido is gaining almost 4 percent, while Sumitomo Realty & Development and Keisei Electric Railway are adding almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand and Hong Kong are up 1.3 and 2.0 percent, respectively. China, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. Taiwan is bucking the trend and in down 0.1 percent.
On the Wall Street, stocks regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after moving sharply lower early in the session, but remained firmly negative. With the continued weakness, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed lower for the fourth straight session.
The Nasdaq plunged 260.54 points or 1.4 percent to a three-month closing low of 19,026.39 and the S&P 500 slid 28.00 points or 0.5 percent to a one-month closing low of 5,955.25, although the narrower Dow bucked the downtrend and climbed 159.95 points or 0.4 percent to 43,621.16.
The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent.
Crude oil prices settled sharply lower on Tuesday as concerns about demand and oversupply in the market weighed and pushed the commodity's prices to the lowest level in about 11 weeks. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April settled lower by $1.77 or at $68.93 a barrel.
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