Asian Markets Track Global Markets Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Monday, following the mostly negative cues from global markets on Friday, amid concerns about slowing economic growth, soaring inflation and prospects of more interest rate hikes by central banks in the coming months. Traders also react to hawkish comments from US Fed officials ahead of annual Jackson Hole economic symposium in Wyoming this week. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

Recent comments from some Fed officials have indicated the central bank will continue to raise interest rates aggressively at its next meeting in September. St. Louis Fed president James Bullard said he expects a third straight 75 basis point interest rate hike in September. Meanwhile, Kansas City Fed president Esther George argued that the drop in inflation registered in July was not evidence the underlying problem was fixed.

The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Monday, giving up the slight gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,100 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets on Friday, with weakness across most sectors, led by technology stocks, which tracked their peers on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 49.50 points or 0.70 percent to 7,065.00, after hitting a low of 7,031.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 52.70 points or 0.72 percent to 7,306.00. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Friday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is losing almost 1 percent, Origin Energy is slipping almost 2 percent and Beach energy is down more than 1 percent. Woodside Energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global and Appen are declining almost 2 percent each, while Zip is slipping more than 3 percent, Afterpay owner Block is plunging more than 6 percent and Xero is losing more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower, Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are declining almost 3 percent each, while Evolution Mining is down more than 1 percent, Newcrest Mining is losing almost 4 percent and Resolute Mining are slipping almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are losing almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is down more than 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent.

In other news, shares in Abdri are plummeting almost 17 percent after the cement maker reported a drop in profit for the first half and also slashed its dividend.

Meanwhile, shares in EML are soaring almost 12 percent after the fintech firm announced a share buy-back ahead of its strategic review.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.690 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 staying just above the 28,800 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets on Friday, with weakness across most sectors, led by technology stocks, which tracked their peers on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 28,805.52, up 124.81 or 0.43 percent, after hitting a low of 28,586.36 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.3 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent, Tokyo Electron declining more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is down more than 1 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are flat, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.5 percent.

The major exporters are mixed, with Panasonic, Canon and Mitsubishi Electric edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Sony is losing almost 1 percent. Among the other major gainers, Nexon is losing almost 4 percent and CyberAgent is down almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Inpex is gaining almost 4 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 137 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.8 and 1.1 percent each, while New Zealand, China and Singapore higher by between 0.2 and 0.6 percent each. Hong Kong is relatively flat with a negative bias.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside during trading on Friday after ending Thursday's choppy session modestly higher. The major averages came under pressure early in the session and remained firmly negative throughout the day.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels in the final hour of trading but remained firmly negative. The Dow slid 292.30 points or 0.9 percent to 33,706.74, the Nasdaq plunged 260.12 points or 2 percent to 12,705.22 and the S&P 500 tumbled 55.26 points or 1.3 percent to 4,228.48.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. The German DAX Index slumped by 1.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.9 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices settled modestly higher on Friday but posted a weekly loss due to concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid fears of a possible recession in Europe. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September rose $0.27 or 0.3 percent at $90.77 a barrel.