Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight and reflecting renewed concerns about turmoil in the banking sector after First Republic reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter. Disappointing results from several other U.S. companies also hurt sentiment. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.

Traders also cautiously awaited a slew of upcoming central bank meetings, most notably the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, due over the next two weeks.

The three central banks are widely expected to raise interest rates in order to fight inflation, and it is feared that policy tightening by the banks could significantly slow down economic growth.

The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,300 mark, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by iron ore miners amid a fall in iron ore prices.

The market pared most of the initial losses after data released showed the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator dropped to a 10-month low. This is also the straight month of lower annual inflation and the slowest pace since May 2022.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 3.30 points or 0.05 percent to 7,318.70, after hitting a low of 7,285.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 7.10 points or 0.10 percent to 7,505.10. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Monday ahead of the holiday on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent, Fortescue Metals is declining more than 2 percent and Rio Tinto is slipping more than 1 percent. Mineral Resources is plunging more than 10 percent after the mining services company downgraded its full-year production guidance. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos and Woodside Energy are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy is adding almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and are losing almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is down more than 1 percent, while Xero is gaining more than 1 percent, Appen is edging up 0.4 percent and Zip is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. ANZ Banking is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is gaining almost 2 percent, Newcrest Mining is adding almost 3 percent, Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 4 percent, Northern Star Resources is up more than 2 percent and Evolution Mining is rising more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.662 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is notably lower on Wednesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 28,500 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by losses in financial stocks amid renewed concerns about turmoil in the banking sector after First Republic reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 28,469.08, down 150.99 points or 0.53 percent, after hitting a low of 28,397.01 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.4 percent and Toyota is flat.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing more than 1 percent while Advantest and Tokyo Electron are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

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

Among the major exporters, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are losing more than 1 percent each, while Panasonic is edging down 0.5 percent. Canon is edging up 0.3 percent.

There are no other major losers.

Conversely, Sumitomo Pharma is gaining almost 4 percent, while Taisei and Obayashi are adding more than 3 percent each. Kajima is up almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 133 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.7 percent each, while Hong Kong, South Korea and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after showing a lack of direction for two straight sessions. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside after ending Monday's trading narrowly mixed.

The major averages finished the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow slumped 344.57 points or 1.0 percent to 33,530.83, the Nasdaq plunged 238.05 points or 2.0 percent to 11,799.16 and the S&P 500 tumbled 65.41 points or 1.6 percent to 4,071.63.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday amid concerns over the outlook for energy demand due to fears of a global economic slowdown, while the dollar's rise weighed as well. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $1.69 or 2.2 percent to $77.07 per barrel.