Asian Markets A Sea Of Red

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are a sea of red on Friday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid concerns over the re-escalation of the Middle East conflict after ship attacks and seizures near the Strait of Hormuz. Traders are now anticipating China's active role to resolve the crisis and hasten up the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in the backdrop of a U.S.-China summit. Both countries agreed the Strait must be free for all nations. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

The escalating geopolitical tensions and higher energy prices raised concerns over potential supply disruptions, higher inflationary pressures, and risks to global growth.

The Australian stock market is trading slightly lower on Friday after opening in the green, reversing the slight gains in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,650 level, with weakness in mining and energy stocks partially offset by gains in financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 8.50 points or 0.10 percent to 8,632.20, after touching a high of 8,691.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 10.30 points or 0.12 percent to 8,874.40. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are declining more than 3 percent each, while Fortescue is down more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping more than 7 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are gaining more than 1 percent each. Origin Energy is down more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is gaining more than 2 percent, Xero is jumping almost 9 percent, WiseTech Global is adding more than 3 percent, Appen is advancing almost 4 percent and Zip is up more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding almost 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank is advancing almost 3 percent. Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is down almost 3 percent, Newmont is declining more than 3 percent and Genesis Minerals is edging down 0.5 percent, while Resolute Mining and Evolution Mining are tumbling almost 5 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.719 on Friday.

The Japanese market is trading sharply lower on Friday after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 61,850 level, with weakness in technology stocks partially offset by gains in automaker and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 61,849.81, down 804.24 points or 1.28 percent, after touching a high of 63,235.77 and a low of 61,740.98 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 2 percent and Honda is jumping almost 7 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is declining more than 6 percent, Advantest is losing more than 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is down almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 1 percent. Mizuho Financial is flat.

Among the major exporters, Canon is gaining almost 1 percent and Sony is surging more than 5 percent, while Panasonic is losing more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among other major losers, Dowa Holdings is plummeting 22 percent, JGC Holdings is plunging more than 14 percent, Socionext is tumbling 8 percent, Fanuc is sliding 7 percent and Honda Motor is slipping 6.4 percent, while Sharp and Sumitomo Metal Mining are declining more than 5 percent each. Konica Minolta, Kirin Holdings, Tokio Marine and Aozora Bank are losing more than 4 percent each, while Kanadevia, Taiyo Yuden and ENEOS Holdings are down almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, NEXON is soaring 11,2 percent, SMC is jumping 9.8 percent and Sumco is surging 6.5 percent, while Olympus, Nisshin Seifun, Taisei, Kioxia Holdings and Toppan Holdings are gaining almost 5 percent each. NTN is advancing 4.3 percent, while Denka, Mitsubishi Chemical Group, BANDAI NAMCO and Suzuki Motor are adding almost 4 percent each. ARCHION is up more than 3 percent.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 2.3 percent on month in April, the Bank of Japan said on Friday. That was far higher than forecasts for an increase of 0.7 percent and up sharply from the upwardly revised 1.0 percent gain in March (originally 0.8 percent).

On an annual basis, producer prices spiked 4.9 percent - again exceeding expectations for a gain of 3.0 percent and up from the upwardly revised 2.9 percent increase in the previous month (originally 2.6 percent).

Import prices were up 4.9 percent on month and 7.9 percent in year, the bank said, while export prices jumped 3.3 percent on month and 9.6 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 158 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is down 3.2 percent, while New Zealand, China, Singapore, Hong Kong Malaysia, Taiwan is relatively flat. Indonesia remains closed for Ascension Day.

On Wall Street, the Dow showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Thursday, closing above 50,000 for the first time in three months, after ending the previous session modestly lower. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 also moved higher, adding to Wednesday's gains and once again reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages all finished the day firmly positive but off their highs of the session. The Dow advanced 370.26 points or 0.8 percent to 50,063.46, the Nasdaq jumped 232.88 points or 0.9 percent to 26,635.22 and the S&P 500 climbed 56.99 points or 0.9 percent to 7,501.24.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices inched higher on Thursday as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut amid a lack of progress in U.S.-Iran peace efforts. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was up $0.29 or 0.29 percent at $101.31 per barrel.