Asian Markets A Sea Of Red

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are a sea of red on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as the markets are priming up for the new US tariffs later in the week, primarily the 25 percent tariffs on auto and auto parts imports. The Japanese market is pulling down the markets with a 3.7 percent drop on concerns that the tariffs could hit domestic production and auto sector jobs. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.

The uncertainty about US President Donald Trump's aggressive trade policies and potential retaliation from major trading partners fueled fears of a slowdown in global economic growth.

Trump said on Sunday that reciprocal tariffs he is set to announce this week will include all nations, not just a smaller group of 10 to 15 countries with the biggest trade imbalances.

The Australian stock market is trading sharply lower on Monday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling 1.6 percent to well below the 7,900.00 level, with weakness across all sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 126.00 points or 1.58 percent to 7,856.00, after hitting a low of 7,843.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 129.70 points or 1.58 percent to 8,065.80. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing more than 3 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining almost 4 percent and Fortescue Metals is slipping almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are lower. Woodside Energy is declining almost 2 percent, Beach energy is losing almost 3 percent, Santos is down more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is sliding more than 4 percent, Xero is losing more than 2 percent, Zip is slipping more than 6 percent and Appen is declining almost 3 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging up 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining and Newmont are losing more than 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining and Gold Road Resources are flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent, National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent, ANZ Banking is declining more than 2 percent and Westpac is down almost 2 percent.

In economic news, private sector credit in Australia was up 0.5 percent on month in February, the Reserve Bank of Australia said on Monday - steady from the January reading. On a yearly basis, credit was up 6.5 percent. Housing credit was up 0.4 percent on month and 5.6 percent on year, while personal credit rose 0.1 percent on month and 1.9 percent on year and business credit gained 0.8 percent on month and 9.0 percent on year. Broad money was up 0.6 percent on month and 5.2 percent on year.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.630 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 falling 3.9 percent to below the 35,700 level, with weakness across all sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 35,691.52, down 1,428.81 points or 3.85 percent, after hitting a low of 35,574.61 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is sliding 6.5 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are slipping 5.5 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining more than 4 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are losing almost 4 percent each.

The major exporters are lower. Panasonic is declining almost 4 percent, Canon is slipping more than 3 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is sliding almost 5 percent and Sony is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Renesas Electronics is plunging almost 8 percent, while MS&AD Insurance and Socionext are sliding more than 7 percent each. Fujikura, Disco and DeNA are slipping more than 6 percent each, while ENEOS Holdings, Yaskawa Electric and Fanuc are declining almost 6 percent each. Tokio Marine, Nomura Holdings, Sumco and Sumitomo Electric Industries are losing more than 5 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In economic news, the value of retail sales in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on month in February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry or METI said on Monday - coming in at 12.193 trillion yen. That follows the 1.2 percent increase in January. On a yearly basis, sales rose 1.4 percent - moderating from 4.4 percent in the previous month.

The METI also said industrial production in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent on month in February. That beat forecasts for an increase of 1.9 percent following the 1.1 percent contraction in January. On a yearly basis, industrial production was up 0.3 percent - moderating from 2.2 percent in the previous month.

Upon the release of the data, the METI maintained its assessment of industrial production, saying that it continued to fluctuate indecisively. According to the METI's forecast for industrial production, output is expected to rise 0.6 percent in March and 0.1 percent in April.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 150 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan and South Korea are down 3.3 and 2.6 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China and Hong Kong are lower by between 0.3 and 0.6 percent, respectively. Markets in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are closed for Eid-ul-Fitr holiday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Friday extending the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. The major averages came under pressure early in the session and saw further downside as the day progressed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a particularly steep loss, plunging 481.04 points or 2.7 percent to a six-month closing low of 17,322.99. The S&P 500 also tumbled 112.37 points or 2.0 percent to 5,580.94, while the Dow slumped 715.80 points or 1.7 percent to 41,583.90.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index declined by 0.9 and the German DAX Index slumped by 1.0 percent.

Crude oil prices fell Friday, but the most active futures contract still posted a weekly gain amid prospects of tighter supplies following the U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May settled at $69.36 a barrel, losing $0.56 or 0.8 percent. WTI crude futures gained 1.6 percent in the week.