Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with South Korea and Japan leading the losses amid a broad selloff in semiconductor stocks. Ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East also kept crude oil prices higher and raised global inflation concerns. Bond yields also spiked to the highest levels in nearly two decades. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump said there are currently no U.S.-Iran peace talks taking place or scheduled. With both the U.S. and Iran asserting control over Strait of Hormuz, shipping traffic has fallen drastically, rekindling crude oil supply concerns.

Australian shares are trading modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous five sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 9,050 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in mining and financial stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 33.50 points or 0.37 percent to 9,036.50, after hitting a low of 9,019.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 34.70 points or 0.37 percent to 9,239.50. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent, Mineral Resources is down almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.4 percent, while Fortescue is gaining more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.5 percent, Zip is losing more than 1 percent and Appen is down more than 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging up 0.4 percent and Xero is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and ANZ Banking are losing almost 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and National Australia bank edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining, Resolute Mining and Newmont are losing almost 2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Genesis Minerals are down more than 2 percent each.

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

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 65,750 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 65,724.25, down 1,736.48 points or 2.57 percent, after hitting low of 65,326.76 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling almost 7 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is declining almost 3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is down more than 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are losing almost 2 percent each.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing more than 3 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is tumbling more than 5 percent, Panasonic is declining more than 3 percent, Canon is losing almost 1 percent and Sony is down more than 1 percent.

Among other major losers, Pan Pacific International is plunging almost 10 percent, while Kioxia Holdings and Furukawa Electric are tumbling more than 8 percent each. Sumco is sliding almost 8 percent, while Fujikura and Renesas Electronics are slipping almost 7 percent each. Sumitomo Electric Industries iand Ebara are declining more than 6 percent each, while IHI, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Fuji Electric, Mitsubishi Electric and Socionext are losing almost 6 percent each. Sumitomo Heavy Industries is down more than 5 percent.

Conversely, Mercari is advancing almost 5 percent and Shiseido is gaining almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the value of core machinery orders in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 9.7 percent on month in June, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday - coming in at 1,055.8 billion yen. That beat forecasts for an increase of 7.2 percent following the 12.4 percent decline in May. On a yearly basis, orders were up 16.9 percent - gain exceeding expectations for an increase of 10.8 percent after slipping 1.9 percent in the previous month.

For the second quarter of 2026, core machinery orders were up 0.2 percent on quarter and 10.8 percent on year at 3,116.2 billion yen. For the third quarter, orders are expected to climb 4.9 percent on quarter and 19.9 percent on year at 3,268.6 billion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 159 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is tumbling 5.4 percent, while China and Taiwan are slipping 1.4 and 1.8 percent, respectively. Malaysia and Singapore are down 0.1 and 0.3 percent, respectively. New Zealand and Indonesia are up 0.3 percent each. Hong Kong is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday, extending the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. The Nasdaq showed a significant move to the downside on the day, reflecting weakness among tech stocks.

The major averages all ended the day in negative territory. The Nasdaq slumped 355.20 points or 1.3 percent to 26,289.71, the S&P 500 slid 53.30 points or 0.7 percent to 7,691.76 and the Dow fell 116.38 points or 0.2 percent to 53,343.40. The major European markets have all also moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both slid by 0.8 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices edged higher on Tuesday as hopes for U.S.-Iran talks over the Strait of Hormuz have faded. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.39 or 0.46 percent at $84.89 per barrel.