Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid the escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China and renewed concerns about the U.S. banking sector after bad loans recently led to the bankruptcies of two auto industry-related companies, First Brands and Tricolor Holdings. Traders also resorted to profit taking after the recent gains in the markets. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

"When you see one cockroach, there are probably more," JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said during the financial giant's earnings conference call earlier this week.

The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Friday, snapping a three-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 9,050 level, with weakness in technology stocks and a mixed performance in most other sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 64.60 points or 0.71 percent to 9,003.80, after hitting a low of 8,993.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 73.80 points or 0.79 percent to 9,302.10. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is declining almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is edging down 0.4 percent and BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent, while Fortescue is edging up 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy and Santos are losing more than 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is down almost 2 percent. Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block and Zip are declining more than 2 percent each, while Appen is slipping almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global are down more than 1 percent and Xero is edging down 0.1 percent.

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

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are advancing almost 2 percent each, while Newmont is surging almost 3 percent. Resolute Mining is edging down 0.3 percent and Genesis Minerals is losing almost 3 percent.

In other news, shares in EROAD plummeting almost 37 percent after the New Zealand transport software business flagged an up to NZ$150 million impairment due to challenging conditions in the US market and cutting earnings guidance.

Shares in Vulcan Energy are tumbling almost 8 percent despite striking a partnership deal with JordProxa to provide technology and equipment for its Phase One Lionheart lithium project in Germany.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.648 on Friday.

Reversing the strong gains in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is significantly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 47,850 mark, with weakness index heavyweights, automakers and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 47,827.31, down 450.43 points or 0.93 percent, after hitting a low of 47,729.11 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent and Honda is losing almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is down almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is declining almost 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing more than 2 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is declining almost 3 percent.

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

Among other major losers, SHIFT, Resona Holdings, T&D Holdings and J. Front Retailing are losing almost 4 percent each, while Disco, Isetan Mitsukoshi, Mercari, Chiba Bank, Dai-ichi Life, Sumco, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Furukawa Electric and Sompo Holdings are declining more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Aeon is jumping almost 7 percent.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 1.5 percent, while New Zealand, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. South Korea is bucking the trend and is up 0.5 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside early in the session on Thursday but came under pressure over the course of the trading day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session and into negative territory.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the end of the day but remained in the red. The Dow slid 301.07 points or 0.7 percent to 45952.24, the S&P 500 declined 41.99 points or 0.6 percent to 6,629.07 and the Nasdaq fell 107.54 points or 0.5 percent to 22,562.54.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday after the Energy Information said crude oil inventories in the U.S. increased much more than expected, sparking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude Oil for November delivery was down $0.97 or 1.66 percent at $57.30 per barrel.