Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian markets are mostly higher on Friday, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with few other markets trading relatively flat amid uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the Middle East tensions. Crude oil prices remained elevated following remarks from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that Washington will impose "the toughest sanctions in history" on Iran. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Friday, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 9,100 level, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 15.70 points or 0.17 percent to 9,068.10, after hitting a low of 9,052.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 12.40 points or 0.13 percent to 9,286.10. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

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

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is sliding more than 2 percent, Zip is tumbling almost 7 percent, WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent and Appen is edging down 0.3 percent, while Xero is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent.

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

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in July, and at a steady pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Friday with a manufacturing purchasing managers index score of 52.0. That's unchanged from the June reading, and it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The survey also showed that the services PMI came in 52.9, down from 53.6 in the previous month, and the composite PMI slipped to 52.5 from 53.2.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.714 on Friday.

The Japanese market is trading significantly lower on Friday, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 65,550 level, with weakness in exporters and technology stocks partially offset by gains in automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 66,008.45, down 208.34 points or 0.31 percent, after hitting a low of 65,260.22 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 4 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 2 percent and Honda is advancing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Screen Holdings is losing almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

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

Among other major losers, Sumco is tumbling almost 5 percent, while Sumitomo Pharma and Japan Steel Works are declining almost 4 percent each. Ryohin Keikaku, IHI and Trend Micro are losing more than 3 percent each, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Taiyo Yuden, Ebara, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, M3, Nissan Chemical and Lasertec are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sumitomo Chemical and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Ricoh and Itochu are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, overall consumer prices in Japan were up 1.9 percent on year in July, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 1.8 percent following the downwardly revised 1.6 percent gain in June (originally 1.7 percent.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, inflation rose 0.4 percent, matching forecasts and up from 0.3 percent in the previous month. Core CPI was up 1.8 percent on year, also in line with expectations and up from 1.6 percent a month earlier.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 158 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.4 and 0.7 percent each. New Zealand, China, Singapore and Malaysia are relatively flat. On Wall Street, stocks saw further downside over the course of the trading day on Thursday after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages all moved sharply lower as the day progressed, more than offsetting the modest gains posted during Wednesday's session.

The major averages ended the day not far off their lows of the session. The Dow tumbled 703.84 points or 1.3 percent to 52,759.21, the Nasdaq slumped 263.92 points or 1 percent to 26,067.17 and the S&P 500 slid 66.82 points or 0.9 percent to 7,641.16.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices surged on Thursday after Trump announced his stringent economic measures against Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $2.01 or 2.34 percent at $87.84 per barrel.