Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid hopes of an end to the uncertainty about U.S. reciprocal tariffs on its trade partners by August 1, though US President Donald Trump is escalating the trade battle. He warned of a blanket tariff of 15-20 percent on most trading partners that have not received letters yet. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.

Trump announced a 30% tariff on goods from the European Union and Mexico starting August 1. He has already sent out letters to more than 20 countries informing them of new levies ranging from 25 to 40 percent.

The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Monday, extending the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying below the 8,600.00 level, with weakness in technology and financial stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 4.40 points or 0.05 percent to 8,875.70, after hitting a low of 8,558.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 1.40 points or 0.02 percent to 8,818.90. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is adding more than 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy, Santos and Beach energy are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is sliding almost 5 percent, WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent and Xero is edging down 0.2 percent, while Appen and Zip are declining more than 4 percent each.

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

Among the big four banks, Westpac and ANZ Banking are declining almost 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent. National Australia Bank is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.656 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading modestly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 falling well below the 39,500 level, with weakness across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,469.72, down 99.96 points or 0.25 percent, after hitting a low of 39,288.90 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.2 percent and Toyota is also edging up 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.4 percent.

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

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic and Sony are losing more than 1 percent each, while Canon is down almost 1 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.5 percent. Among the other major losers, Sumco is losing more than 3 percent, while NEXON, Shiseido and Yaskawa Electric are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, IHI Corp. and Ryohin Keikaku are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the value of core machinery orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on month in May, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - coming in at 913.5 billion yen. That beat forecasts for a contraction of 1.4 percent following the 9.1 percent decline in April. On a yearly basis, orders rose 4.4 percent - again exceeding expectations for 3.4 percent following the 6.6 percent jump in the previous month.

Government orders were up 25.2 percent on month and 36.9 percent on year at 499.0 billion yen, while orders from overseas fell 6.4 percent on month and 11.8 percent on year to 1,263.3 billion yen. For the second quarter of 2025, core machinery orders are forecast to sink 2.1 percent on quarter and 1.0 percent on year. The total value of machinery orders received by 280 manufacturers operating in Japan increased 3.8 percent on month but fell 3.1 percent on year at 3,089.6 billion yen.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each, while New Zealand and Taiwan are down 0.4 and 0.6 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Friday but still closed modestly lower after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulling back off Thursday's record closing highs.

The Dow slid 279.13 points or 0.6 percent to 44,371.51, the Nasdaq slipped 45.14 points or 0.2 percent to 20,585.53 and the S&P 500 fell 20.71 points or 0.3 percent to 6,259.75.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index slid by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday after the International Energy Agency upwardly revised its oil supply forecast and also buoyed by lingering geopolitical risks in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed up $1.88 to settle at $68.45 per barrel.