Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as worries about economic slowdown, inflation and rate hike concerns continued to weigh on the market. Traders are also cautious ahead of the monetary policy announcements by the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank later in the day. Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.

The Australian stock market is slightly weak in choppy trading on Thursday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 6,800 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in materials and energy stocks nearly offset by the strong gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 1.3 points or 0.02 percent to 6,757.90, after hitting a low of 6,743.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 6.2 points or 0.09 percent to 6,981.40. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent, Rio Tinto declining almost 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.2 percent, while OZ Minerals and Mineral Resources are down almost 1 percent each.

Rio Tinto has reached a $1 billion settlement with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to resolve and finalize all tax disputes, including long-standing issues related to its Singapore marketing hub.

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

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is surging almost 8 percent, Xero is adding more than 3 percent, Appen is up almost 1 percent, Zip is gaining more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is advancing almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Westpac is gaining almost 1 percent. ANZ Banking is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is adding almost 2 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In other news, shares in Link Administration are surging almost 11 percent after saying it will recommend Canadian software firm Dye & Durham Ltd's $2.5 billion revised offer.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.689 on Thursday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly lower on Thursday, snapping the five-session winning streak, with the Nikkei 225 staying below the 27,700 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision later today. Traders also booked profits after the recent rally.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,657.53, down 22.73 points or 0.08 percent, after hitting a low of 27,549.56 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing are edging down 0.3 percent each. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing more than 1 percent, while Advantest and Tokyo Electron are down almost 2 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Sony and Panasonic are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are edging down 0.5 percent each. Among the other major losers, Shionogi & Co. is surging more than 8 percent, whie Nippon Steel and Kobe Steel are gaining more than 4 percent each. JFE Holdings is adding almost 4 percent.

Shares in Shionogi & sank after the drugmaker's oral antiviral Covid-19 pill failed to secure approval from Japanese health ministry panel for want of more data from ongoing clinical trials.

Conversely, there are no major gainers.

In economic news, Japan had a merchandise trade shortfall of 1,383.8 billion yen in June, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Thursday. That exceeded expectations for a deficit of 1,509.7 billion yen following the downwardly revised 2,385.8-billion-yen shortfall in May (originally a 2,384.7-billion-yen shortfall). Exports jumped 19.4 percent on year, beating forecasts for an increase of 17.5 percent and up from 15.8 percent in the previous month. Imports surged an annual 46.1 percent, exceeding expectations for 45.7 percent but down from 48.9 percent a month earlier.

The Bank of Japan will also wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Thursday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoJ is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at -0.10 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 138 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea are higher by between 0.3 and 0.7 percent each, while China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia are lower by between 0.4 and 0.9 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday but maintained a positive bias throughout the session before closing mostly higher. The major averages extended the rally seen in the previous session, reaching their best closing levels in over a month.

The major averages all finished the day in positive territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts by a wide margin. While the Nasdaq surged 184.50 points or 1.6 percent to 11,897.65, the S&P 500 climbed 23.21 points or 0.6 percent to 3,959.90 and the narrower Dow edged up by 47.79 points or 0.2 percent to 31,874.84.

Meanwhile, European stocks fluctuated over the course of the session before closing modestly lower. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index edged down by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for gasoline demand during the summer driving season. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.96 or 1.9 percent at $102.26 a barrel on the expiration day.