Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as rising volatility in crude oil prices, global currency and bond yields continue to weigh on market sentiment. Technology stocks are also dragging the markets amid a surge in AI-related corporate debt. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

Traders largely shrugged the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which confirmed most officials expect to once again raise interest rates before the end of the year.

Concerns over a potential escalation between the US and Iran and continued risks to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz are adding to global inflationary pressures.

Reports suggest that the US administration had instructed the Pentagon to develop strike options against Iran that could be carried out before the midterm elections.

Iranian-backed Houthis also attacked targets in Saudi Arabia, leading to a fresh wave of strikes by the Riyadh-led coalition against positions in Yemen.

The Australian market is trading notably lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,700 level, with weakness in mining and technology stocks partially offset by gains in energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 53.60 points or 0.61 percent to 8,674.10, after hitting a low of 8,667.9 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 57.60 points or 0.65 percent to 8,837.00. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 3 percent, Mineral Resources is slipping more than 5 percent, Fortescue is sliding more than 4 percent and Rio Tinto is declining more than 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Origin Energy is adding more than 1 percent and Santos is advancing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block are edging down 0.5 percent, WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent, Appen is declining almost 3 percent and Zip is slipping almost 2 percent, while Xero is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Genesis Minerals are slipping almost 2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is declining more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is edging down 0.3 percent and Newmont is down almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Maas Group are plunging almost 22 percent after the troubled IPO of AI infrastructure and data center firm Firmus as its IPO faces repricing and cutting its target market valuation.

Shares in Lovisa Holdings are tumbling almost 7 percent after Its CFO resigned.

In economic news, Australia's consumer inflation expectations rose to 5.3 percent in October 2026, up from 4.9 percent in the prior two months and reaching their highest level since June. The outlook was reinforced by August data showing trimmed mean CPI remained elevated at 3.6 percent on year, its highest since September 2024 and above the Reserve Bank of Australia's 2-3 percent target range.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.697 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is trading significantly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 69,400 level, with weakness in index heavyweights, exporters, financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 69,373.40, down 662.31 points or 0.95 percent, after hitting a low of 69,195.47 earlier. Japanese stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.4 percent and Honda is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 1 percent each, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are declining more than 2 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is declining almost 4 percent, Sony is losing almost 1 percent, Canon is edging down 0.2 percent and Panasonic is slipping more than 4 percent.

Among other major losers, Komatsu is tumbling almost 7 percent and Kubota is slipping more than 6 percent, while Furukawa Electric and Mitsui & Co. are declining almost 5 percent each. Idemitsu Kosan, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Chubu Electric Power, Hitachi Construction Machinery and JGC Holdings are losing more than 4 percent each, while Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Japan Steel Works, Tokyo Gas, Mitsubishi Materials and Sumitomo Electric Industries are down almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, Trend Micro is advancing more than 4 percent and Kioxia Holdings is gaining almost 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan's current account surplus rose to JPY 4,062.0 billion in August 2026 from JPY 3,628.1 billion in the same month a year earlier, surpassing market expectations for a JPY 3,194 billion surplus. In the first half of 2026, Japan's trade surplus widened to JPY 17.43 trillion from JPY 14.23 trillion in the same period a year earlier.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore is slipping 2.6 percent, while New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each. China and Indonesia are up 0.2 and 0.4 percent, respectively. On Wall Street, stocks saw an initial pullback on Wednesday but regained ground over the course of the trading day, after trending higher over the past several sessions. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session, although they still closed in negative territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day down 61.20 points or 0.2 percent to 27,538.69 after slumping by as much as 0.9 percent in early trading. The S&P 500 also dipped 17.16 points or 0.2 percent to 7,801.77, while the narrower Dow slid 341.41 points or 0.7 percent to 51,179.87.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day, While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index declined by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.2 percent and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.4 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped again on Wednesday, unable to hold early gains after the International Energy Agency announced member states have expressed support for accelerating the oil stock releases. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.15 or 1.3 percent at $88.29 a barrel.