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 traders remain cautious and concerned about the fallout of the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Israel against Iran over the weekend. Diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Iran aimed at easing tensions over Tehran's nuclear program concluded on Thursday without an agreement. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

Iran retaliated after the attacks by the U.S. and Israel reportedly killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Australian stock market is notably lower on Monday, extending snapping a three-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 9,150.00 level, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in energy and mining stocks on spiking commodity prices amid the military conflict in the Middle-East.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 50.90 points or 0.54 percent to 9,147.70, after hitting a low of 9,119.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 53.90 points or 0.57 percent to 9,381.70. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue is tumbling almost 5 percent. BHP Group is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is jumping almost 9 percent, Woodside Energy is surging almost 6 percent and Santos is advancing more than 6 percent, while Origin Energy is losing almost 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is tumbling almost 5 percent, WiseTech Global is declining almost 4 percent, Appen is slipping almost 7 percent, Zip is sliding more than 6 percent and Xero is losing almost 4 percent.

Gold miners are higher. Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 5 percent, Evolution Mining is surging more than 6 percent, Resolute Mining is soaring almost 10 percent, Newmont is jumping more than 7 percent and Genesis Minerals is advancing almost 8 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are declining almost 3 percent each, while ANZ Banking is losing more than 2 percent and National Australia Bank is slipping more than 3 percent. In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in February, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.0. That's down from 52.3 in January, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.709 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Monday, snapping a four-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 57,800 level, with weakness across most sectors led by automakers and financial stocks amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 57,950.76, down 899.51 points or 1.53 percent, after hitting a low of 57,285.77 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 3 percent and Toyota is declining more than 4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is declining more than 3 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 2 percent each.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are declining almost 5 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is tumbling more than 5 percent.

The major exporters are lower. Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 2 percent, Canon is down more than 1 percent, Sony is losing more than 2 percent and Panasonic is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Nomura Holdings is tumbling more than 7 percent, while Shizuoka Financial, Tokyo Electric Power, Chiba Bank and Denka are slipping almost 7 percent each. Fukuoka Financial, Resona Holdings and Daiwa Securities are declining almost 6 percent each, while Mitsubishi Motors, Japan Airlines, Yokohama Financial and Yokohama Rubber are losing more than 5 percent each.

Conversely, Inpex is jumping more than 7 percent, DeNA is surging more than 6 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is advancing almost 4 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in February, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a Purchasing Manager Index score of 53.0. That's up from 51.5 in January and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 156 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore are down 2.6 and 2.1 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.4 and 1.5 percent each. South Korea is closed for Independence Movement Day.

On Wall Street, stocks moved notably lower during trading on Friday, extending the pullback seen during the previous session. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq adding to the steep loss posted on Thursday.

The major averages ended the day well off their lows of the session but still in negative territory. The Dow slumped 521.28 points or 1.1 percent to 48,977.92, the Nasdaq slid 210.17 points or 0.9 percent to 22,688.21 and the S&P 500 fell 29.98 points or 0.4 percent to 6,878.88.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index closed just below the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices spiked on Friday amid growing concerns about a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for April surged $1.71 or 2.6 percent to $66.92 barrel - although it's expected to jump sharply again now that hostilities have broken out.