Asian Markets Track Global Markets Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, following the negative cues from global markets overnight, following a fresh sell-off in the banking sector amid concerns about the debt woes of Swiss lender Credit Suisse, and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the US last week. This raised concerns the global economy could see a significant slowdown in the near to medium term. Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.

Credit Suisse shares fell nearly 25 percent in the Swiss market after Saudi National Bank, the bank's largest investor, reportedly said it would not provide any more funding to the Swiss lender.

The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Thursday, giving up the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,300 mark, following the mostly negative cues from global markets overnight, amid the turmoil in the banking sector following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the U.S., and the debt woes of Swiss lender Credit Suisse.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 104.40 points or 1.48 percent to 6,964.50, after hitting a low of 6,911.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 111.20 points or 1.53 percent to 7,151.90. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 3 percent each, while Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are declining more than 4 percent each. OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 3 percent and Woodside Energy is declining almost 4 percent, while Santos is slipping more than 3 percent. Origin Energy is down more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Appen and Xero are losing almost 1 percent each, while WiseTech Global is declining almost 2 percent. Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 2 percent and Zip is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing more than 1 percent, while National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are declining almost 2 percent each. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is gaining 1.5 percent, Gold Road Resources is advancing more than 3 percent, Evolution Mining is adding almost 3 percent, Newcrest Mining is up almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is rising more than 2 percent.

In other news, shares in financial services firm Latitude Group Holdings and IP law business IPH Ltd are in a trading halt after revealing cyber incidents.

In economic news, the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.5 percent in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. That was beneath expectations for 3.6 percent and was down from 3.7 percent in January. The participation rate was 66.6 percent, in line with expectations and up from 66.5 percent a month earlier.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.662 on Thursday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Thursday, after the slight gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 27,000 mark, following the mostly negative cues from global markets overnight, with losses across most sectors, led by financial and technology stocks amid the concerns over the stability of the financial sector. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 26,974.39, down 255.09 points or 0.94 percent, after hitting a low of 26,632.92 earlier. Japanese stocks closed slightly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also down more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota and Honda are declining 1.5 percent each.

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

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are losing almost 4 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is down 3.5 percent. Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are losing more than 2 percent each, while Canon is declining more than 1 percent and Sony is down almost 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Dai-ichi Life Holdings and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust are plunging almost 7 percent each, while T&D Holdings is sliding more than 6 percent and JFE Holdings is slipping almost 6 percent. Sumitomo Metal Mining and NTN are losing more than 5 percent each, while Orix, Nippon Sheet Glass, Nippon Steel, Resona Holdings, Sompo Holdings, Mitsui & Co., Sumitomo Chemical, Mitsubishi Motors and Suzuki Motor are all declining more than 4 percent each.

Conversely, Z Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent.

In economic news, the value of core machine orders in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 9.5 percent on month in January, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday - coming in at 929.6 billion yen. That beat forecasts for an increase of 1.8 percent following the downwardly revised 0.3 percent gain in December (originally up 1.6 percent).

On a yearly basis, orders improved 4.5 percent - again topping expectations for a fall of 3.5 percent following the 6.6 percent decline in the previous month. For the first quarter of 2023, core machine orders are forecast to rise 2.9 percent on quarter and 3.3 percent on year.

Japan also posted a merchandise trade deficit of 897.7 billion yen in February, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. That exceeded expectations for a shortfall of 1,069.4 billion yen following the 3,498.6 billion yen deficit in January. Exports were up 6.5 percent on year to 7.654 trillion yen - missing forecasts for an increase of 7.1 percent but up from the 3.5 percent gain in the previous month. Imports climbed an annual 8.3 percent to 8.552 trillion yen versus expectations for an increase of 12.2 percent and slowing from 17/5 percent a month earlier.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 132 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.3 and 1.0 percent each. New Zealand is bucking the trend and is up 0.2 percent. South Korea is relatively flat. On Wall Street, stocks came off the session's lows on Wednesday, but still ended on a weak note, with bank stocks feeling the brunt of selling pressure. In addition to ongoing concerns about turmoil in the financial sector following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, short-term debt woes of Swiss lender Credit Suisse contributed to the bearish sentiment in the market.

The major averages all recovered well from the day's lows, but the Nasdaq managed to close with a small gain. The Dow ended down 280.83 points or 0.87 percent at 31,874.57, nearly 450 points off the session's low of 31,429.82. The S&P 500, which fell to 3,838.24, ended at 3,891.93, losing 27.36 points or 0.7 percent. The Nasdaq, which tumbled to 11,238.44, settled at 11,434.05, gaining 5.90 points or 0.05 percent.

The major European markets all moved sharply to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 plunged 3.83 percent, Germany's DAX tumbled 3.27 percent, and France's CAC 40 dropped 3.58 percent.

Crude oil prices plunged to their lowest level since December 2021 on Wednesday, amid rising concerns about global economic growth and worries about the outlook for energy demand after data showed an increase in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate futures for April tumbled 5 percent at $67.61 a barrel.