Asian Markets Track Global Markets Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly in the red on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders remain concerned about the outlook for U.S. interest rates amid a sharp increase by U.S. treasury yields. Recent economic data has also led to worries the US Fed may raise rates higher than expected and keep them elevated for an extended period. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.

Traders also await the Fed's release of the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which could shed some light on the outlook for interest rates.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,300 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders remain concerned about the prospect that the US Fed will continue hiking rates to tame stubborn inflation.

Traders also digested data showing the leading economic index in Australia remained negative for the eight consecutive months in January.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 20.70 points or 0.28 percent to 7,315.60, after hitting a low of 7,267.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 25.60 points or 0.34 percent to 7,519.00. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Rio Tinto and OZ Minerals are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 2 percent each. Oil stocks are gaining. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.5 percent and Beach energy is gaining more than 2 percent, while Santos is adding almost 4 percent. Origin Energy is soaring almost 13 percent after a Brookfield-led consortium trimmed its takeover bid to A$8.9 per share, raising hopes of a deal closure.

In the tech space, Xero is edging down 0.3 percent, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 3 percent, Appen is down almost 1 percent and Zip is declining more than 4 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent. Commonwealth Bank is flat.

Among gold miners, Newcrest Mining is losing more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is declining more than 3 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are down more than 2 percent each. Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Domino's Pizza are plunging 20 percent on disappointing first-half results due largely to high inflation. It also cut its dividend.

In economic news, the value of total construction work done in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics or ABS said on Wednesday - coming in at A$55.272 billion. That missed expectations for an increase of 1.4 percent following the 2.2 percent gain in the three months prior. On a yearly basis, construction was up 1.0 percent.

The ABS also said the wage price index in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2022, the Australia Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 1.0 percent, which would have been unchanged from the three months prior. On a yearly basis, wages climbed 3.3 percent - also missing forecasts for 3.5 percent but up from 3.1 percent in the previous quarter.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.684 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 27,100 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders remain concerned about the prospect that the US Fed will continue hiking rates to tame stubborn inflation.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,114.17, down 358.93 points or 1.31 percent, after hitting a low of 27,046.08 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing are losing more than 1 percent each. Among automakers, Honda is down more than 1 percent and Toyota is losing almost 2 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon and Panasonic are losing more than 1 percent each, while Sony is declining more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down more than 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, T&D Holdings is losing almost 6 percent, while Nissan Motor, Trend Micro, Fujikura, CyberAgent, Toray Industries, GS Yuasa, Ricoh, Nippon Paper Industries and JTEKT are all declining more than 3 percent each. Furukawa Electric, NEXON, Sharp, Recruit Holdings and Kubota are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no major gainers.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 1.6 percent on year in January, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday, after rising 1.5 percent in December. On a monthly basis, producer prices fell 0.3 percent after rising 0.1 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 135 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are down 1.5 and 1.3 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.3 and 0.6 percent each. Singapore is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session on Tuesday following the mixed performance seen last Friday. With the steep drop on the day, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended the session at their lowest closing levels in a month.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session at their worst levels of the day. The Dow tumbled 697.10 points or 2.1 percent to 33,129.59, the Nasdaq plunged 294.97 points or 2.5 percent to 11,492.30 and the S&P 500 dove 81.75 points or 2 percent to 3,997.34.

The major European markets also all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both slid by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices were volatile on Tuesday as traders weighed the impact of higher U.S. interest rates against optimism about increased demand from China. West Texas Intermediate for March delivery dipped $0.16 or 0.2 percent to $76.16 a barrel, while crude for April delivery eased $0.19 or 0.3 percent to $76.29 a barrel.