Asian Markets Trade Mixed

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, dragged down by tumbling technology stocks that mirrored their peers on Nasdaq. Traders also are concerned about the renewed uncertainty about US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs after a U.S. federal appeals court ruled that the majority of his sweeping tariffs were illegal. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

In delivering a stunning legal blow to Trump's trade policy, the court said the president overstepped his authority in imposing a series of tariffs -- including duties on China, Mexico, and Canada—under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The Australian stock market is notably lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,950.00 mark, with weakness in iron ore miners, energy, technology and financial stocks. Gold miners are the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 55.70 points or 0.62 percent to 8,917.40, after hitting a low of 8,908.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 57.20 points or 0.62 percent to 9,185.80. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, Fortescue is declining more than 5 percent, Rio Tinto is losing almost 2 percent, BHP Group is down more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Origin Energy are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent. Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining more than 1 percent, WiseTech Global is losing more than 3 percent and Xero is down almost 3 percent, while Zip is gaining more than 2 percent and Appen is adding almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is surging more than 4 percent, Gold Road Resources is up almost 1 percent, Evolution Mining is advancing almost 4 percent, Newmont is adding almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is jumping more than 5 percent.

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

In other news, shares in RPMGlobal are skyrocketing more than 23 percent after it agreed to an exclusivity period with Caterpillar following receipt of a non-binding proposal to acquire all shares and options for $5 per share.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in August, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 53.0. That's up from 51.3 in July and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.655 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 falling just below the 41,850 level, with weakness across most sectors led by tumbling technology stocks. Automakers were the only bright spot.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 41,849.82, down 868.65 points or 2.03 percent, after hitting a low of 41,843.96 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing 5.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining 1.5 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling more than 8 percent, Tokyo Electron is losing more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is declining more than 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.2 percent and Mizuho Financial is losing more than 1 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is flat.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are down almost 1 percent. Canon is flat. Among the other major losers, Disco is tumbling more than 7 percent, Socionext is slipping almost 6 percent, Furukawa Electric is losing more than 5 percent and Sumitomo Electric Industries is declining more than 3 percent, while Sumco and Lasertec are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Olympus is gaining more than 4 percent, while M3 and Eisai are adding almost 4 percent each. Oriental Land, Asahi Group and Mazda Motor are advancing more than 3 percent each, while Otsuka Holdings, Sumitomo Pharma, Keio and Keisei Electric Railway are up almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in August, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.7. That's up from 48.9 in July, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 147 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia is down 2.3 percent, while Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are lower by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each. Hong Kong is up 2.2 percent, while New Zealand and China are up 0.5 and 0.2 percent, respectively. Malaysia is for National Day.

On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the downside during trading on Friday after trending higher over the past few sessions. The major averages all moved lower on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a particularly steep loss.

The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still in negative territory. The Nasdaq slumped 249.61 points or 1.2 percent to 21,455.55, the S&P 500 slid 41.60 points or 0.6 percent to 6,460.26 and the Dow dipped 92.02 points or 0.2 percent to 45,544.88.

The major European markets also all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index declined by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices fell Friday on concerns on overproduction concerns as OPEC recently agreed to increase crude production by 547,000 barrels per day in September. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.60 or 0.93 percent at $64.00 per barrel.