Asian Markets Track Global Markets Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, weighed down by concerns about the health of the US banking sector and broader global economy after a warning from Fitch that it may have to downgrade credit ratings of several banks, including JP Morgan. Higher bond yields hurt as well. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

There are also rising worries after a broad array of Chinese economic data missed expectations and the country's central bank unexpectedly cut two key interest rates for the second time in three months to shore up the struggling economy.

The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Wednesday, giving up the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, dragged by weakness across most sectors, led by mining, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 106.20 points or 1.45 percent to 7,198.80, after hitting a low of 7,185.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 106.40 points or 1.42 percent to 7,414.00. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are declining almost 2 percent each, while BHP Group is sliding more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is losing almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent and Beach energy is declining more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are declining almost 4 percent each, while Appen is edging down 0.5 percent and Xero is losing more than 2 percent. Zip is gaining almost 1 percent. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing 1.5 percent, while National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are declining more than 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining, Newcrest Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are down almost 1 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.645 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply lower in choppy trading on Wednesday, giving up the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 31,900 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weakness across most sectors, led by exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 31,906.25, down 332.64 points or 1.03 percent, after hitting a low of 31,784.91 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

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

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging up 0.1 percent and Advantest is advancing almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing more than 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is declining almost 2 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is slipping more than 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon and Sony are losing almost 1 percent each, while and Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 1 percent. Panasonic is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Nippon Sheet Glass is declining more than 5 percent, while Sharp, Dai-ichi Life, Idemitsu Kosan, Olympus and Japan Steel Works are losing more than 3 percent each. Sumitomo Pharma, Nissan Chemical, JGC Holdings, Mitsui E&S, Nippon Express, Hino Motors, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Sumitomo Chemical and Konica Minolta are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Kuraray and Kajima are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 145 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and South Korea are down 1.3 percent each, while New Zealand, China, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.3 and 0.7 percent each. Malaysia is bucking the trend and is up 0.1 percent.

On the Wall Street, stocks languished in the red right through the day's session and eventually ended on a weak note on Tuesday after a gap down opening and a subsequent fall to lower levels.

The major averages all ended notably lower. The Dow ended with a loss of 361.24 points or 1.02 percent at 34,946.39. The S&P 500 ended down 51.86 points or 1.16 percent at 4,437.86, and the Nasdaq settled at 13,631.05, recording a loss of 157.28 points or 1.14 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 1.57 percent, Germany's DAX drifted down 0.86 percent, and France's CAC 40 fell 1.1 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand following a batch of weak economic data from China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September sank $1.52 or 1.8 percent at $80.99 a barrel.