Asian Markets Track Global Markets Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets mirrored the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight to trade mostly lower at multi-month lows on Wednesday, after better-than-expected US jobs data, strong US dollar and spiking treasury yields at its highest level in 16 years continued to raise concerns the US Fed will hold interest rates higher for longer than previously anticipated to tame the stubborn inflation. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.

Australian shares are losing for the second straight session on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 6,900 level to fresh six-month lows, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 50.60 points or 0.73 percent to 6,892.80, after hitting a low of 6,876.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 57.00 points or 0.80 percent to 7,084.00. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources and BHP Group are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent and Santos is down almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.4 percent. Woodside Energy is flat. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing 2.5 percent, WiseTech Global is down more than 1 percent, Xero is slipping 1.5 percent and Appen is declining more than 4 percent, while Zip is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are losing more than 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are down almost 1 percent each. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are advancing almost 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each. Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.4 percent.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia moved back up into expansion territory, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 51.8. That's up from 47.8 in August and it moves back above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction for the first time in three months.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.631 on Wednesday.

Adding to the losses in the previous four sessions, the Japanese share market is tumbling on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight. The Nikkei 225 fell below the 30,700 mark to four-month lows, with sharp losses across most sectors, led by index heavyweights, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 30,634.89, down 603.05 points or 1.93 percent, after hitting a low of 30,581.61 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is declining almost 5 percent and Toyota is slipping almost 4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest plunging more than 5 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are losing more than 3 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is losing almost 4 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down more than 3 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is plunging almost 5 percent.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is sliding almost 5 percent and Sony is losing almost 2 percent, while Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are declining more than 2 percent each.

Among other major losers, Mercari is plunging more than 6 percent, while Mercari, Mitsubishi Motors and JTEKT are sliding almost 6 percent each. Mazda Motor, Nissan Motor and Credit Saison are slipping more than 5 percent, while Sumitomo Corp., Marubeni, NEC and Subaru are losing almost 5 percent each. Fujikura is declining more than 4 percent.

Conversely, M3 is gaining almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is plunging 2.1 percent, while Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are down 1.2 percent each. New Zealand, Hong Kong and Malaysia are lower by between 0.3 and 0.7 percent each. China remains closed for the week for the National Day holiday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday with traders continuing to express concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The major averages all showed substantial moves to the downside after ending Monday's trading mixed.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but still posted steep losses. The Dow slumped 430.97 points or 1.3 percent to 33,002.38, the Nasdaq plunged 248.31 points or 1.9 percent to 13,059.47 and the S&P 500 tumbled 58.94 points or 1.4 percent to 4,229.45.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index slumped by 1.0 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday on optimism that OPEC+ won't change its production policy at the committee's meeting later today. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.41 or 0.5 percent at $89.23 a barrel.