Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

Asian stock markets is trading mostly lower on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as worries about inflation, higher interest rates and economic slowdown weighed on the market after the US Fed forecast another rate hike before the end of the year and indicated they may leave rates higher for longer than previously anticipated through 2024. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

The world’s major central banks also provided more hawkish rhetoric and are also expected to keep interest rates higher for longer to cool price growth.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, giving up the slight gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness across most sectors, led by miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 19.40 points or 0.27 percent to 7,049.40, after hitting a low of 7,022.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 18.20 points or 0.25 percent to 7,251.80. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is losing almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Beach energy is losing 1.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 3 percent, Xero is edging down 0.2 percent, Appen is declining more than 2 percent and Zip is slipping almost 4 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging up 0.1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are losing more than 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are declining almost 3 percent each. Newcrest Mining is down more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is down more than 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.643 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Monday, snapping a four-session losing streak, with the Nikkei 225 moving to near the 32,600 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, boosted by gains in exporters and technology stocks, partially offset by losses in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 32,590.33, up 187.92 or 0.58 percent, after touching a high of 32,663.82 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.4 percent, while Toyota is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings and Advantest are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 3 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are declining almost 2 percent each.

The major exporters are higher. Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Sony is adding more than 1 percent and Panasonic is advancing more than 2 percent.

Among other major losers, Daiichi Sankyo is surging more than 7 percent and Ebara is gaining more than 3 percent, while Takashimaya and Konami are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Fukuoka Financial is losing almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is down 1.3 percent, while New Zealand, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each. Taiwan is bucking the trend and is up 0.7 percent. Singapore is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks saw substantial volatility in the latter part of the trading session on Friday after an early move to the upside. The major averages showed wild swings back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually ending the day modestly lower.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq edged down 12.18 points or 0.1 percent 13,211.81, its lowest closing level in over three months. The S&P 500 also dipped 9.94 points or 0.2 percent to a three-month closing low of 4,320.06, while the Dow fell 106.58 points or 0.3 percent to a two-month closing low of 33,963.84.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices briefly fell into the red a little past noon on Friday, but recovered swiftly to end the day’s session on a firm note. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November settled with a loss of $0.40 or about 0.5% at $90.03 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 0.6% in the week, the first weekly loss in four weeks.

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