Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative from Wall Street overnight, amid concerns over upcoming reciprocal tariffs and the 25% tariffs on auto and auto components imports in to the U.S. to go in to effect next week. The uncertainty about US President Donald Trump's trade policies continues to weigh on market sentiment. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the US Fed's preferred readings on US consumer price inflation later in the day.

Trump noted that he would impose far larger levies than currently planned if the EU and Canada collaborate to harm the U.S. economy. The imposition of tariffs will be on goods imported by countries that buy oil from Venezuela.

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Friday after opening in the red, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the psychological 8,000 mark, with gains in energy and mining stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 18.20 points or 0.23 percent to 7,987.20, after hitting a low of 7,941.50 and a high of 8,001.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 16.70 points or 0.20 percent to 8,202.20. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing more than 2 percent, while. Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are adding more than 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is gaining more than 1 percent, Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Beach energy is edging up 0.3 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is losing more than 4 percent, Zip is slipping almost 3 percent, Xero is declining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is sliding almost 3 percent. Appen is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.1 percent each, while Westpac is gaining almost 1 percent. Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 3 percent, Resolute Mining is up 1.5 percent, Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 5 percent and Newmont is adding more than 2 percent, while Gold Road Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.629 on Friday.

The Japanese market is sharply lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling more than 2 percent to near the 37,000 mark, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights, automakers and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,011.66, down 788.31 points or 2.09 percent, after hitting a low of 36,961.80 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also down more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 3 percent and Honda is down more than 2 percent.

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

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

Among the major exporters, Sony and Canon are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 2 percent. Panasonic is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among other major losers, CyberAgent is losing more than 4 percent, Resonac Holdings is down more than 3 percent and Keyence is declining almost 3 percent.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 150 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are down 1.8 and 1.6 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each Singapore is bucking the trend and is up 0.2 percent. Indonesia is closed for Saka New Year holiday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Thursday after recovering from an initial move to the downside. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing lower.

With the lower close on the day, the major averages extended the sharp pullback seen on Wednesday. The Nasdaq slid 94.98 points or 0.5 percent to 17,804.03, the Dow fell 155.09 points or 0.4 percent to 42,299.70 and the S&P 500 dipped 18.89 points or 0.3 percent to 5,693.31.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slid by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index decreased by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher Thursday on supply concerns after data showed a sharp drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May closed up $0.19 or about 0.27 percent at $69.84 a barrel.