Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious and are reluctant to make more significant moves as they kept an eye on the escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia. The People's Bank of China holding rates steady and the uncertainty about the US Fed's interest rate moves also rendered the mood cautious. Asian Markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

The Australian market is trading slightly lower on Thursday after opening in the green, adding to the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 8,300 level, with weakness in technology stocks nearly offset by gains in mining and energy stocks amid firmer commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 8.60 points or 0.10 percent to 8,317.70, after touching a high of 8,362.80 and a low of 8,315.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.60 points or 0.16 percent to 8,565.50. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.3 percent and Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 2 percent, while BHP Group and Mineral Resources are losing almost 1 percent each.

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

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is edging down 0.2 percent and Zip is declining 2.5 percent, while Appen is edging up 0.5 percent. Xero is flat.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, ANZ Banking is edging up 0.4 percent and Westpac is adding more than 1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Newmont is edging up 0.5 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are adding more than 2 percent each. Resolute Mining is losing almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Accent Group are tumbling almost 14 percent after warning its gross margins were coming under pressure as retailers place heavy discounts on products to tempt back shoppers.

Shares in Sayona Mining are sinking almost 8 percent to 3.5¢ after it wrapped a $40 million equity raise as it prepares to merge with fellow lithium player Piedmont Lithium, which is also down more than 8 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.651 on Thursday.

Extending the losses in the previous session, the Japanese market is significantly lower on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 38,100 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by gains in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,033.22, down 319.12 points or 0.83 percent, after hitting a low of 37,995.90 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also down almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.3 percent and Honda is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.4 percent, Advantest is losing 3.5 percent and Screen Holdings is declining almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining 1.5 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Canon is adding almost 1 percent and Panasonic is edging up 0.3 percent, while Sony is losing 1.5 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down almost 1 percent.

Among other major losers, Socionext is losing more than 3 percent, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Disco are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Fujikura is gaining more than 4 percent and Sumitomo Electric Industries is adding almost 4 percent, while Furukawa Electric, Sumitomo Pharma, Taiyo Yuden, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust and Kyowa Kirin are advancing more than 3 percent each. UBE is up almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 154 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each, while New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each. On Wall Street, stocks recovered in the latter part of the trading day on Wednesday after seeing weakness throughout much of the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels before eventually ending the session narrowly mixed.

The Dow ended the day up 139.53 points or 0.3 percent at 43,408.47, while the S&P 500 closed little changed, up just 0.13 points at 5,917.11. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed down 21.32 points or 0.1 percent at 18,966.14 but staged a notable recovery attempt after tumbling by as much as 1.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index slipped by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday on weak demand concerns and data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December slipped $0.52 or 0.75 percent at $68.87 a barrel.