Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders reacted to the actions taken by China to counter the effects of deflation and a slew of upbeat GDP and PMI data from the region. Markets are also cautious following the imposition of tariffs by U.S. on Canada, Mexico and China, and the retaliatory measures by China and Canada. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.

The Australian stock market is extending its early losses in mid-market trading on Wednesday, adding to the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to near the 8,100 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by financial and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 96.20 points or 1.17 percent to 8,101.90, after hitting a low of 8,096.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 98.30 points or 1.17 percent to 8,322.60. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining more than 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is losing more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is down more than 1 percent and Santos is declining almost 2 percent, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are losing almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Appen is advancing more than 6 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent, while Xero is losing almost 2 percent, Zip is declining almost 4 percent and Afterpay owner Block is slipping almost 5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is down more than 2 percent and ANZ Banking is declining more than 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is declining almost 3 percent. Resolute Mining is advancing almost 5 percent and Newmont is edging up 0.1 percent.

In economic news, Australia's economy grew by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter, accelerating from a 0.3 percent expansion in the previous quarter and surpassing market expectations of 0.5 percent.

The S&P Global Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index fell to 50.8 in February, down from 51.2 in January, signaling continued growth in business activity for the thirteenth month, though at a slower pace.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.625 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Wednesday after opening in the green and slipping in to the red earlier, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 37,350 level, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by weakness is exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,356.44, up 25.26 points or 0.07 percent, after touching a high of 37,536.23 and a low of 37,178.72 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is adding almost 3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing almost 1 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Canon is edging down 0.1 percent, Sony is losing almost 1 percent and Panasonic is down more than 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 4 percent.

Among other major losers, Konami Group and Sumitomo Pharma are losing more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Yokogawa Electric is surging almost 6 percent, Furukawa Electric is gaining almost 5 percent, Fujikura is adding almost 4 percent and Socionext is up more than 3 percent, while Lasertec and Mercari are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 149 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia is surging 2.2 percent, while Hong Kong and Taiwan are up 1.5 to 1.1 percent, respectively. China, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. New Zealand is bucking the trend and is down 1.0 percent.

On the Wall Street, stocks staged a valiant recovery attempt over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after moving sharply lower early in the session, only to once again come under pressure going into the close.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day down 65.03 points or 0.4 percent at 18,285.16 after plunging by as much as 2.1 percent to a nearly five-month intraday low. The S&P 500 briefly reached positive territory but closed down 71.57 points or 1.2 percent at a four-month closing low of 5,776.15. The Dow also slumped 670.25 points or 1.6 percent to 42,520.99.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside. While the German DAX Index plunged by 3.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dove by 1.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.3 percent.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Tuesday amid concerns about possible excess supply in the market after OPEC and allies decided to go ahead with their plans of increasing crude output. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed down $0.11 or about 0.2 percent at $68.26 a barrel, settling lower for the third consecutive session.