Asian Markets A Sea Of Red

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are a sea of red on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid renewed uncertainty and re-escalation of the Middle East conflict after Iran created a new agency to formalize its control over the Strait of Hormuz and reports of fresh clashes between the U.S. and Iran. This revived concerns of crude oil prices and global inflation. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

The U.S. military said it "remained positioned and ready to protect American forces" after intercepting unprovoked Iranian attacks on three Navy ships. Iran's top joint military command said the U.S. targeted an Iranian oil tanker and another ship entering the strait.

The Australian stock market is trading sharply lower on Friday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,750 level, with weakness in mining, financial and energy stocks partially offset by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 146.40 points or 1.65 percent to 8,731.70, after hitting a low of 8,729.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 140.40 points or 1.54 percent to 8,966.60. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are down more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue is declining almost 1 percent and BHP Group is losing more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are weak. Woodside Energy is down almost 1 percent and Santos is slipping more than 1 percent, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are losing more than 2 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block and Appen are surging more than 5 percent each, whileWiseTech Global and Zip are declining almost 3 percent each. Xero is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is down almost 3 percent and ANZ Banking is losing more than 1 percent, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are declining more than 2 percent each. Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is slipping almost 2 percent, Resolute Mining is declining almost 3 percent, Newmont is edging down 0.2 percent and Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent, while Genesis Minerals is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.721 on Friday.

The Japanese market is trading notably lower on Friday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 62,200 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and financial stocks partially offset by gains in automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 62,174.12, down 659.72 points or 1.05 percent, after hitting a low of 62,137.95 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling almost 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.3 percent and Honda is gaining almost 1 percent.

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

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

Among the major exporters, Panasonic and Sony are losing more than 2 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 2 percent and Canon is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among other major losers, Yokogawa Electric is plunging more than 9 percent, Ibiden is tumbling more than 6 percent, Sumitomo Pharma is sliding more than 5 percent and Kyowa Kirin is slipping almost 5 percent, while Sojitz, Fukuoka Financial, Mitsui Chemicals, Shizuoka Financial and Daiwa Securities are declining more than 4 percent each. Resona Holdings, Chiba Bank and Tosoh are losing almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, Sumco is soaring more than 10 percent, while SHIFT and Yaskawa Electric is jumping more than 6 percent each. Fanuc and Fuji Electric are surging almost 6 percent each, while Recruit Holdings is gaining more than 5 percent. Kioxia Holdings, Keyence, BayCurrent and Dentsu Group are advancing more than 4 percent each, while Nintendo, Alps Alpine and NEC are up almost 4 percent each. SMC and Mercari are rising more than 3 percent each.

In economic news, the service sector in Japan continued to expand in April, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Friday with a services PMI score of 51.0. That's down from 53.4 in March, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed hat the composite PMI fell to 52.2 in April from 53.0 in March.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Hong Kong are down 1.4 and 1.1 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.3 and 0.9 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance early in the session on Thursday but came under pressure over the course of the trading day. The major averages all moved to the downside, although selling remained relatively subdued.

The major averages finished the day off their lows of the session but still in the red. The Dow slid 313.62 points or 0.6 percent to 49,596.97, the S&P 500 fell 28.01 points or 0.4 percent to 7,337.11 and the Nasdaq edged down 32.75 points or 0.1 percent to 25,806.20.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled 1.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index slumped by 1.2 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices had moved lower as Iran reviews a peace plan offered by the U.S. to end the gulf war but bounced higher again on supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was at $94.76 per barrel.