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, dragged by South Korean and Japanese markets on continued sell-off in semiconductor and technology stocks amid concerns over the sustainability of the AI and technology investments. The uncertainty over the resolution in the Middle East conflict also continues to weigh on market sentiment. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,900 level, with gains in energy and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 42.90 points or 0.48 percent to 8,934.70, after touching a high of 8,992.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 34.40 points or 0.37 percent to 9,046.00. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, and BHP Group is edging up 0.3 percent. Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are losing almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue is declining almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos and Beach energy are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are advancing almost 2 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is gaining more than 2 percent and Xero is losing almost 1 percent, while Zip is slipping almost 5 percent, Appen is plunging almost 17 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent.

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

Gold miners are mostly lower. Genesis Minerals is down more than 1 percent, Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent, Resolute Mining is declining more than 4 percent and Newmont is losing almost 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Coles are plunging almost 12 percent after the supermarket giant reported downbeat first-quarter trading update and profit warning.

Shares in Reece are jumping almost 10 percent following the release of its first-quarter sales revenue update.

In economic news, Australia's final demand producer price index increased 1.1 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2026, slightly beating market forecasts for a 1.0 percent rise but slowing from a 1.3 percent increase in the previous period, which was the strongest price growth since the third quarter of 2023. On an annual basis, the PPI increased 3.6 percent, unchanged from the previous quarter.

Australia's private sector credit rose by 0.6 percent on month in September 2026, slightly exceeding market expectations for a 0.5 percent increase but matching the pace recorded in the previous two months. On an annual basis, private sector credit growth held steady at 8.4 percent, unchanged from August.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.703 on Friday.

The Japanese market is trading sharply lower on Friday, snapping a three-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is tumbling 2.4 percent to below the 63,050 level, with weakness in index heavyweights, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 63,019.78, down 1,639.69 points or 2.54 percent, after hitting a low of 62,711.42 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling more than 6 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.3 percent, while Honda is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling almost 9 percent and Tokyo Electron is slipping almost 5 percent, while Screen Holdings is plunging almost 8 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is declining almost 3 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are losing more than 4 percent each, while Sony is gaining almost 2 percent and Canon is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among other major losers, Fujitsu plummeting almost 16 percent, Ibiden is plunging more than 15 percent and Lasertec is tumbling almost 12 percent, while Kioxia Holdings and Murata Manufacturing are sliding more than 9 percent each. Tokyo Electric Power, Taiyo Yuden, TDK and Kokusai Electric are slipping more than 7 percent each. Chubu Electric Power, Resonac Holdings and Sumco are declining almost 7 percent each, while Mitsui Kinzoku is losing more than 6 percent.

Conversely, Konami Group is soaring more than 18 percent and Oriental Land is jumping more than 7 percent, while ANA Holdings, Capcom and BANDAI NAMCO are surging more than 6 percent each. Nomura Research Institute is advancing almost 6 percent, while Shiseido and Nitori Holdings are advancing almost 5 percent each. Nippon Yusen K.K. and Ryohin Keikaku are adding more than 4 percent each. Dentsu Group, Japan Airlines, NEXON, BayCurrent and Toho are up more than 3 percent each.

In economic news, the Bank of Japan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Friday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoJ is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1.25 percent.

Retail sales in Japan advanced 2.3 percent on year in September 2026, below market expectations for a 3.3 percent rise and easing from an upwardly revised 2.9 percent increase in the previous month, marking the slowest growth in three months. It was the seventh consecutive month of growth in retail sales. On a monthly basis, retail sales dropped 0.7 percent in September, following a revised 0.9 percent fall in August, marking the second consecutive monthly decline.

Japan's unemployment rate edged down to 2.4 percent in September 2026, below market expectations and August's figure of 2.5 percent. The number of unemployed fell by 100 thousand to 1.67 million, while employment increased by 340 thousand to a four-month high of 68.68 million. Meanwhile, the jobs-to-applicants ratio rose to 1.19 from 1.18 in each of the previous three months, exceeding consensus of 1.18.

Core consumer prices in Tokyo's central wards increased 2.6 percent on year in October 2026, following a 2.7 percent rise in September and in line with expectations. It was the first deceleration in five months, following the fastest increase since November 2025 in September.

Japan's industrial production increased by 2.2 percent month-over-month in September 2026, reversing a 2.4 percent decline in the previous month and surpassing market estimates of 1.3 percent, preliminary data showed. It was the fastest growth since January. On an annual basis, production rose 1.9 percent, down from 2.7 percent in August, marking the softest growth in four months.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 157 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are tumbling 5.4 and 3.2 percent, respectively. Indonesia is down 1.8 percent, while China, Singapore and Malaysia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each. New Zealand and Hong Kong are up 0.2 and 1.2 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks moved lower during trading on Thursday, after trending higher over the past few sessions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a particularly steep drop on the day.

The Nasdaq tumbled 365.13 points or 1.4 percent to 26,184.72, giving back ground after surging by 2.3 percent over the three previous sessions. The S&P 500 also dipped 23.59 points or 0.3 percent to 7,720.39, while the Dow fell 132.54 points or 0.3 percent to 52,342.56.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 1.1 percent and the German DAX Index surged by 1.3 percent.

Crude oil prices moved lower on Thursday on expectations of a possible de-escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict as Qatar presses Iran to negotiate with the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.79 or 0.77 percent at $101.99 per barrel.