Asian Markets Mostly Lower Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Friday, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, with weakness in materials and energy stocks amid tumbling commodity prices. Traders also cautious amid worries about economic slowdown and renewed concerns about the turmoil in the US banking sector. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.

"Banking stress won't be going away anytime soon as we await to see which banks put too much in long-dated Treasuries," says Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,200 level, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, dragged by weakness s in energy and mining stocks amid tumbling iron ore and crude oil prices, partially offset by gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 15.40 points or 0.21 percent to 7,236.50, after hitting a low of 7,235.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 17.50 points or 0.24 percent to 7,432.20. Australian markets ended slightly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is declining almost 2 percent, while Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are losing more than 1 percent each. Mineral Resources is edging up 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are down almost 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Xero is edging up 0.3 percent and Appen is advancing almost 2 percent. Zip is flat. Among the big four banks, Westpac, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is edging up 0.4 percent.

Gold miners are weak. Gold Road Resources is losing almost 3 percent, Evolution Mining is declining almost 4 percent and Northern Star Resources is down more than 3 percent, while Resolute Mining and Newcrest Mining are slipping more than 2 percent each.

In other news, shares in QBE Insurance are down almost 4 percent despite hiking its gross written premium growth forecast for fiscal 2023, with expectation that premium rate increases will remain supportive.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.670 on Friday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 moving above the 29,300 level to 17-month highs, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, boosted by gains in technology and consumer stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 29,359.43, up 232.71 points or 0.80 percent, after touching a high of 29,408.06 earlier. Japanese stocks closed slightly higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 4 percent and Toyota is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 3 percent, Screen Holdings is adding almost 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is up more than 2 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are losing almost 1 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among major exporters, Canon is edging up 0.5 percent and Sony is gaining almost 2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 1 percent and Panasonic is edging down 0.3 percent. Among the other major gainers, Kobe Steel is skyrocketing almost 14 percent and Sumitomo Realty & Development is soaring 8.5 percent, while Konami Group and Sapporo Holdings are surging more than 5 percent each. Tokai Carbon, Nissan Motor and Taiheiyo Cement are advancing more than 4 percent each, while Renesas Electronics is gaining almost 4 percent. Olympus and Hoya are adding more than 3 percent each, while Kao, Keyence and Oji Holdings are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Casio Computer and Sharp are plunging more than 7 percent each, while Takeda Pharmaceutical and ENEOS Holdings are losing almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the M2 money stock in Japan was up 2.5 percent on year in April, the Bank of Japan said on Friday - coming in at 1,232.4 trillion yen. That was in line with expectations and unchanged from the March reading following a downward revision from 2.6 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 134 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.2 and 0.9 percent each, while New Zealand and Malaysia are up 0.3 and 0.1 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure in early trading on Thursday but regained ground over the course of the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq reaching positive territory.

The Nasdaq rose 22.06 points or 0.2 percent to 12,328.51, its best closing level in over eight months. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 dipped 7.02 points or 0.2 percent to 4,130.62 and the Dow slid 221.82 points or 0.7 percent to 33,309.51.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index eased by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Thursday amid uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand, while a firm dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $1.69 or 2.3 percent at $70.87 a barrel.