Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are cautious and reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of a more closely watched report on US consumer price inflation later in the day that could influence the US Fed's rate trajectory. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the smaller than expected monthly increase by US producer prices helped ease recent concerns about the outlook for inflation and interest rates. The faster annual growth kept buying interest somewhat subdued.

Australian shares are trading slightly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying well above the 8,200 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in mining and financial stocks nearly offset by weakness in technology and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 2.00 points or 0.02 percent to 8,233.00, after touching a high of 8,263.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 4.50 points or 0.05 percent to 8,476.30. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.2 percent, Mineral Resources is adding almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 1 percent, while BHP Group is edging down 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are lower. Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Appen is slipping almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is declining almost 3 percent and Zip is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is gaining more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is adding almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.5 percent, Newmont is adding more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 2 percent, while Resolute Mining is losing almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.619 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading slightly higher on Wednesday, snapping a four-session losing streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving up to be just below the 38,500 level, with gains in gains across most sectors led by financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,628.61, up 154.31 points or 0.40 percent, after touching a high of 38,774.99 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 3 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining 1.5 percent, Mizuho Financial is advancing almost 3 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is losing almost 1 percent and Sony is down more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

Among other major losers, Lasertec and Furukawa Electric are losing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Fanuc, Yaskawa Electric and Toho are gaining more than 5 percent each, while Keyence is adding almost 4 percent and Dai-ichi Life is advancing more than 3 percent.

In economic news, the M2 money stock in Japan was up 3.2 percent on year in December, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday - coming in at 1,257.7 trillion yen. That exceeded expectations for 1.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the previous three months.

The M3 money stock rose an annual 0.8 percent to 1,609.5 trillion yen, while M1 was up 1.3 percent to 1,096.5 trillion yen. The L money stock climbed 3.7 percent on year to 2,195.6 trillion yen following the 3.5 percent increase in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Korea and Indonesia are higher by between 0.3 and 0.7 percent each, while China, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.2 and 0.7 percent each.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Tuesday after failing to sustain an early move to the upside. The major averages swung back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped 43.71 points or 0.2 percent to 19,044.39, the S&P 500 inched up 6.69 points or 0.1 percent to 5,842.91 and the Dow climbed 221.16 points or 0.5 percent to 42,518.28.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices came off five-month highs on Tuesday as investors shifted their focus on the possible impact of Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on imports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed lower by $1.32 or about 1.67 percent at $77.50 a barrel.