Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain concerned about the economic impact of fresh escalation in the Middle East war following attacks and counter attacks on critical energy infrastructure across the Middle East. Fading expectations for US Fed rate cuts this year is also weighing on market sentiment. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.

The "uncertain impacts" due to the Middle East escalation prompted the U.S. Fed to keep interest rates steady. The Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank also followed suit.

The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Friday, extending the sharp losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,500 level, with weakness mining and energy stocks amid tumbling commodity prices, partially offset by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 16.50 points or 0.19 percent to 8,481.30, after hitting a low of 8,438.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 17.50 points or 0.20 percent to 8,673.20. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 2 percent, Rio Tinto are declining more than 3 percent, Fortescue is slipping almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is down more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 2 percent, Santos is down almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.1 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is advancing almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing almost 4 percent and Xero is gaining almost 1 percent, while Appen is losing almost 1 percent and Zip is down more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is edging down 0.2 percent, while Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Gold miners are weak. Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is down more than 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining almost 3 percent and Newmont is slipping more than 4 percent, while Genesis Minerals is gaining more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.708 on Friday.

The Japanese market is closed for the vernal equinox on Friday. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Thursday.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Singapore are lower by between 0.2 and 0.6 percent each, while South Korea and Taiwan are up 0.6 and 0.1 percent, respectively. Malaysia is relatively flat. Indonesia is closed for the Saka New Year and Eid-ul-Fitr.

On Wall Street, stocks regained some ground in the latter part of the trading day on Thursday after seeing notable weakness throughout much of the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day but remained in negative territory.

The Nasdaq ended the day down 61.73 points or 0.3 percent at 22,090.69 but had slumped by as much as 1.4 percent to a six-month intraday low. The S&P 500 also fell 18.21 points or 0.3 percent to 6,606.49, while the Dow slid 203.72 points or 0.4 percent to 46,021.43.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. The German DAX Index plunged by 2.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 2.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 2.0 percent.

Crude oil prices dipped on Thursday as traders dissected U.S. inventory data showing ample supply against production and supply disruption concerns due to the Middle East war. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was down $0.18 or 0.19 percent at $96.14 per barrel.