Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as surging crude oil prices renewed global inflationary pressures amid the re-escalation in the Middle East conflict following the U.S. rejection of Iran's peace proposal. Hotter-than-expected US inflation data also reinforced expectations for tighter US Fed policy. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.

The Fed could keep interest rates elevated for longer, while lingering uncertainty over US-Iran peace talks and surging crude oil prices tied to the Middle East conflict continued to weigh on sentiment.

The US also reported the fastest annual rate of consumer price growth since May 2023, making any rate cuts in the near future extremely unlikely.

The U.S. and Iran struggle to reach an agreement to end the war and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz. This standoff could lead to the restart of combat operations by the U.S. Iran has warned that it was ready to respond to any U.S. aggression.

Australian shares are trading modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling a tad below the 8,650 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in technology and financial stocks partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks.

The losses were also partially offset by the 2026/27 federal budget, which offers modest cost-of-living relief and sweeping tax reforms aimed at long-term fiscal repair.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 21.00 points or 0.24 percent to 8,649.70, after hitting a low of 8,590.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.90 points or 0.16 percent to 8,895.70. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is advancing more than 2 percent and Fortescue is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are adding almost 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent, Zip is tumbling almost 7 percent and WiseTech Global is declining more than 3 percent, while Xero is edging up 0.1 percent. Appen are flat.

Among the big four banks, National Australia bank is slipping more than 2 percent, ANZ Banking is losing almost 2 percent and Westpac is declining almost 3 percent. Commonwealth Bank is tumbling more than 8 percent after higher bad debt provisions weighed on earnings. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining more than 2 percent, Resolute Mining is up almost 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 2 percent, Newmont is edging up 0.4 percent and Genesis Minerals is adding almost 3 percent.

In other news, shares in Healius are plummeting almost 20 percent after lowering its full-year earnings guidance and launching a strategic review of Agilex Biolabs. Shares in Perenti are jumping almost 8 percent after the company announced that its underground mining subsidiary Barminco had won an $850 million contract with Bellevue Gold. The contract would run for four years with the option to extend for another year. In economic news, Australia's seasonally adjusted Wage Price Index increased 3.3 percent on year in the first quarter, easing from a 3.4 percent rise in the previous quarter and in line with market expectations. On a quarterly basis, wages grew 0.8 percent, unchanged from the prior period and in line with market expectations.

Meanwhile, the value of new owner-occupier loan commitments for dwellings in Australia declined by 4.3 percent on quarter to A$61.4 billion in the first quarter, reversing a downwardly revised 9.4 percent growth in the previous quarter. On an annual basis, owner-occupier lending jumped 14.3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.724 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Wednesday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 62,900 level, with gains in automakers, exporters and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 62,930.20, up 187.63 points or 0.30 percent, after hitting a low of 62,318.87 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher Tuesday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is declining more than 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are losing almost 2 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.3 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent, Canon is adding more than 1 percent and Sony is surging more than 5 percent, while Panasonic is sliding more than 4 percent.

Among other major gainers, Olympus skyrocketing almost 15 percent and Secom is soaring more than 11 percent, while Furukawa Electric and Taiheiyo Cement are jumping almost 10 percent each. Kanadevia and NTN are surging almost 9 percent each, while Mercari is advancing more than 8 percent and Mitsubishi is gaining almost 7 percent. Minebea Mitsumi, Mazda Motor, Comsys Holdings and Sumitomo Electric Industries are adding almost 6 percent each. Mitsui & Co. and Asahi Kasei are up almost 5 percent each.

Conversely, Denka is tumbling more than 10 percent and NSK is sliding more than 8 percent, while Shionogi & Co. and OKUMA are slipping more than percent each. Sumco is tumbling almost 7 percent, Shimizu is losing more than 6 percent and Shiseido is down more than 5 percent, while Renesas Electronics, Tokyo Electric Power and Lasertec are declining more than 4 percent each. Socionex, Hitachi Construction Machinery and Hitachi are slipping more than 3 percent each, while SHIFT is down almost 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan posted a current account surplus of 4.681 trillion yen in March, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That beat expectations for a surplus of 3.879 trillion yen and was up from 3.933 trillion yen in February.

Imports were up 10.0 percent on year at 9.991 trillion yen and exports climbed an annual 11.7 percent to 10.822 trillion yen for a trade surplus of 830.5 billion yen. The capital account showed a deficit of 69.6 billion yen, while the financial account saw a surplus of 4.307 trillion yen.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan and Indonesia are down 1.7 and 1.4 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each. Singapore and South Korea are up 0.7 and 0.9 percent, respectively.

On the Wall Street, stocks regained ground over the course of the session after moving sharply lower in morning trading on Tuesday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, with the Dow reaching positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day down 185.92 points or 0.7 percent at 26,088.20 and the S&P 500 also slipped 11.88 points or 0.2 percent to 7,400.96, while the narrower Dow inched up 56.09 points or 0.1 percent to 49,760.56. Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1 percent and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.6 percent.

An extended surge by the price of crude oil contributed to the early sell-off on Wall Street, with U.S. crude oil futures soaring by more than 4 percent and jumping back above $100 a barrel.