Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets is trading mostly lower on Monday, following the negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, after some upbeat US economic data reignited concerns about the possibility of future interest rate hikes. Traders also seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the US Fed's interest rate decision on Wednesday. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

The Australian stock market is notably lower on Monday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,300 level, following the negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, dragged by weakness across most sectors, led by technology stocks which mirrored their peers on tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Traders also remain cautious ahead of the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's September monetary policy meeting due on Tuesday as well as the US Fed's interest rate decision on Wednesday.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 42.90 points or 0.59 percent to 7,236.10, after hitting a low of 7,223.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 48.10 points or 0.64 percent to 7,434.50. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.3 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.3 percent and Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent. BHP Group is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Santos are losing more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy is down almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is declining almost 3 percent, Xero is slipping more than 4 percent, Appen is down almost 2 percent and Zip is sliding almost 6 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is adding almost 2 percent and Evolution Mining is edging up 0.1 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.644 on Monday. The Japanese stock market is closed on account of Respect For The Aged Day holiday. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Friday.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.2 and 1.0 percent each. China is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Friday, giving back ground following the rally seen on Thursday. The major averages all showed notable moves to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the pullback.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Nasdaq tumbled 217.72 points or 1.6 percent to 13,708.33, the S&P 500 slumped 54.78 points or 1.2 percent to 4,450.32 and the Dow slid 288.87 points or 0.8 percent to 34,618.24.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday, rising on optimism over the outlook for Chinese demand after reports showed Chinese refiners broke refining rate records in August. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.61 or 0.7 percent at $90.77 a barrel.