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 amid continued uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump's trade policies, despite reaching trade deals between the U.S. and China as well as the U.S. and the U.K. Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.

The Australian market is slightly higher on Thursday after being in the red most of the morning session, extending the gains in the previous six sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying well below the 8,300 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks nearly offset by weakness in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 5.60 points or 0.07 percent to 8,285.20, after hitting a low of 8,257.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 1.80 points or 0.02 percent to 8,518.40. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos and Woodside Energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.1 percent each.

In the tech space, Appen is gaining more than 1 percent, Xero is adding more than 3 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.4 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.4 percent and Zip is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.5 percent each, while National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is slipping almost 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent, Newmont is declining more than 3 percent, Evolution Mining is edging down 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is sliding almost 5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.644 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is trading significantly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling to near the 37,700 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights, automakers and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,705.74, down 422.39 points or 1.11 percent, after hitting a low of 37,649.59 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 3 percent and Honda is declining almost 3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 1 percent each, while Screen Holdings is declining almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is flat.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing more than 3 percent, Canon is slipping almost 2 percent and Panasonic is down almost 2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric are edging up 0.2 percent.

Among other major losers, Rakuten Group is sliding more than 6 percent, Sumitomo Pharma is declining almost 6 percent, Toppan Holdings is slipping almost 5 percent and Subaru is down more than 4 percent, while Dai-ichi Life, Mitsubishi Materials and NTN are losing almost 4 percent each. Nissan Motor, Suzuki Motor, Ricoh and Sumitomo Chemical are slipping more than 3 percent each, while Fujikura and Japan Exchange Group are down almost 3 percent each.

Sony Group and Subaru have projected a tariff impact for fiscal 2025 of $700 million and $2.5 billion, respectively. Conversely, Taiyo Yuden is soaring more than 7 percent and Aozora Bank is surging more than 6 percent, while Toray Industries and Tokai Carbon are gaining almost 5 percent each. Keisei Electric Railway and Haseko are up more than 4 percent each, while SMC and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines are adding almost 4 percent each. Kuraray is rising more than 3 percent, while Odakyu Electric Railway and Nidec are up almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 146 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each. Indonesia is up 1.1 percent, while New Zealand and Singapore are up 0.1 and 0.5 percent, respectively. On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the session after moving to the upside at the start of trading on Wednesday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before finishing mixed.

The Dow slumped 89.37 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 42,051.06, while the NASDAQ rallied 136.72 points or 0.72 percent to close at 19,146.81 and the S&P 500 rose 6.03 points or 0.10 percent to end at 5,892.58.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell 0.21 percent, while Germany's DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both slipped 0.47 percent.

Crude oil prices slipped again on Wednesday, after data showed that U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly jumped last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery shed 0.80 or 1.27 percent to 62.87 per barrel.