Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Friday, following the mixed cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight as they were closed, as traders are cautious ahead of the release of the closely watched US monthly jobs later in the day, which will potentially provide additional clarity about the strength of the labor market and the outlook for interest rate cuts. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.

Tariff threats by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, and persisting concerns about inflation limited any upside in the markets.

The Australian stock market is notably lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight as they were closed. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,300 level, with weakness in financial, energy and technology stocks partially offset by gains in mining stocks amid higher metal prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 50.40 points or 0.61 percent to 8,278.80, after hitting a low of 8,262.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 48.80 points or 0.57 percent to 8,529.00. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly weak. Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Beach energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is down more than 1 percent, WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent, Appen is declining almost 1 percent and Xero is edging down 0.5 percent, while Zip is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are losing almost 2 percent each, while Westpac is declining more than 2 percent and ANZ Banking is down almost 1 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Newmont is adding more than 1 percent, while Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are edging up 0.3 and 0.5 percent each. Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.620 on Friday.

Extending the losses in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is notably lower on Friday, following the mixed cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight as they were closed. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 39,300 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and financial stocks. Technology stocks are the only bright spot.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 193.33 points or 0.49 percent to 39,411.76, after hitting a low of 39,166.05 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 7 percent after reporting weaker-than-expected results in China. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.3 percent and Honda is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 5 percent, Screen Holdings is adding more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is losing more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial down almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is edging down 0.5 percent, while Canon and Sony are losing almost 1 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among other major losers, Mitsui Mining & Smelting is losing more than 6 percent, while Chugai Pharmaceutical and T&D Holdings are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Furukawa Electric are gaining almost 5 percent each, while Japan Steel Works is adding more than 4 percent. Fujikura and Shionogi & Co. are advancing more than 3 percent each, while Ebara is up almost 3 percent.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore is down 1.6 percent, while New Zealand and Taiwan are down 0.2 and 0.1 percent, respectively. Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent. China and South Korea are relatively flat.

On Wall Street, the markets were closed on Thursday in honor of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who died in late December at age 100.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.5 percent, while the German DAX Index edged down 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher Thursday amid optimism about the outlook for global oil demand, and potential supply shortage due to the sanctions on Iranian and Russian crude exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled higher by $0.60 or 0.82 percent at $73.92 a barrel.