Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as the US Fed's minutes showed policymakers are more inclined to keep interest rates steady amid stubborn inflation. The continued concerns about the potential impact of higher tariffs to be imposed by the US on partner nations also hurt market sentiment. Asian Markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

The minutes of the latest US Fed policy meeting on January 28-29 revealed that officials want to see further progress on inflation before they consider resuming lowering interest rates. It also reiterated officials believe a "careful approach" in considering additional adjustments to the stance of monetary policy is appropriate given the high degree of uncertainty.

The meeting participants said the upside risks to the inflation outlook partly reflected the possible effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy.

The Australian market is trading sharply lower on Thursday, extending to the losses in the previous three sessions, despite the slightly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to tad near the 8,300 level, with weakness in iron ore miners, financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in energy and gold miner stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 117.40 points or 1.39 percent to 8,301.80, after hitting a low of 8,287.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 121.10 points or 1.39 percent to 8,578.00. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent, Mineral Resources is down almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is declining more than 3 percent, while Fortescue Metals is sliding almost 7 percent after reporting downbeat half-yearly results amid falling iron ore oxide prices.

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

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, Zip is declining almost 3 percent and Xero is down more than 1 percent, while Appen is gaining more than 2 percent. WiseTech Global is in a sudden trading halt amid a series of allegations levelled against its founder Richard White.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are declining almost 4 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing more than 4 percent and Commonwealth Bank is down almost 2 percent. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Newmont are advancing more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is adding more than 2 percent. Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

In other news, shares in Goodman Group are tumbling more than 6 percent after the industrial property giant announced the completion of a major capital raising of $4 billion through a fully underwritten institutional placement.

Shares in Megaport are skyrocketing more than 16 percent after the network-as-a-solutions provider announced stronger than expected half year result.

In economic news, The unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - in line with expectations and up from 4.0 percent in December. The Australian economy added 44,000 jobs last month to 14,634,300, exceeding expectations for an increase of 19.400 jobs following the increase of 56,300 jobs in the previous month.

Full-time employment increased by 54,100 to 10,092,800 people, while part-time employment decreased by 10,100 to 4,541,500 people. The participation rate climbed to 67.3 percent, beating forecasts for 67.1 percent - which would have been unchanged.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.634 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is trading sharply lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, despite the slightly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 38,600 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,579.71, down 584.90 points or 1.49 percent, after hitting a low of 38,640.71 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 2 percent and Honda is down almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing almost 3 percent and Screen Holdings is declining more than 3 percent, while Advantest is flat.

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

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is down more than 1 percent, Sony is declining 1.5 percent and Canon slipping almost 1 percent.

Among other major losers, Hino Motors and Yokohama Rubber are declining more than 4 percent each, while Shimizu is sliding almost 4 percent. Nomura Research Institute, NEC, Trend Micro, Resonac Holdings, J. Front Retailing and Subaru are losing more than 3 percent each, while Obayashi, Nitori Holdings, IHI, NTT Data, Nintendo and Nissan Motor are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Shiseido is surging more than 7 percent, while Suzuki Motor and Renesas Electronics are gaining more than 4 percent each. Toto is advancing almost 4 percent and Yamato is adding almost 3 percent.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is down 2.1 percent, while New Zealand, China, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. Indonesia is bucking the trend and is up 0.1 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks moved modestly lower early in the session on Wednesday but regained ground over the course of the trading day. The major averages climbed well off their early lows and into positive territory, with the S&P 500 once again reaching a new record closing high.

The major averages ended the day modestly higher. The S&P 500 rose 14.57 points or 0.2 percent to 6,144.15, the Dow climbed 71.25 points or 0.2 percent to 44,627.59 and the Nasdaq inched up 14.99 points or 0.1 percent to 20,056.25.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index tumbled 1.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices settled higher Wednesday, extending gains from previous session amid concerns about the outlook for supplies after a recent drone attack by Ukraine on a Russian pumping station. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose $0.40 or 0.56 percent at $72.25 a barrel.