Asian Markets Trades Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, after US President Donald Trump announced steeper-than-expected reciprocal tariffs on US trade partners, heightening concerns over a global trade war that could destabilize major economies. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated the new levies will be "effective immediately." Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.

Trump imposed an additional 34 percent tariff on Chinese imports, raising total levies on China to 54 percent. Australia was hit with a 10 percent tariff, Japan was struck with a 24 percent tariff, alongside the 25 percent levies on auto and auto parts imports, dealing a heavy blow to Japan's auto industry.

The Australian market is trading significantly lower on Thursday, giving up the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 7,900 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 87.10 points or 1.10 percent to 7,847.40, after hitting a low of 7,768.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 91.90 points or 1.13 percent to 8,041.20. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is slipping almost 7 percent Rio Tinto is declining almost 3 percent, while BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 2 percent each.

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

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is down more than 1 percent, Appen is declining more than 3 percent and Zip is slipping more than 7 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are losing more than 2 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.3 percent and Westpac is losing more than 1 percent, while National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are declining almost 2 percent each. Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources down almost 1 percent, Resolute Mining is declining almost 3 percent and Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Newmont are adding more than 2 percent each.

In other news, shares in Ansell are sliding more than 14 percent after the medical equipment manufacturer said it is shifting manufacturing away from China as it is a major exporter to the US amid the new tariff imposition.

Shares in Galan Lithium are skyrocketing more than 38 percent after the battery minerals supplier rejected a $150 million takeover bid.

Shares in Cettire are tumbling almost 12 percent after luxury fashion platform warned investors it will probably be forced to push up prices in its key market, the U.S., after European-made goods were slapped with fresh tariffs from April 9.

Shares in Synlait Milk are surging almost 7 percent after the New Zealand-based dairy processing company announced material progress in its strategic workstream to secure its future milk supply.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in March, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Thursday with a services PMI score of 51.6. That's up from 50.8 in February, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.627 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is trading sharply lower on Thursday, reversing the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is plunging nearly 3 percent to below the 34,700 level, with weakness across all sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 34,673.69, down 1,052.18 points or 2.95 percent, after hitting a low of 34,102.00 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing 3.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 4 percent and Honda is down more than 3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 4 percent, Tokyo Electron is declining more than 5 percent and Screen Holdings is down 3.5 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are losing almost 7 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining more than 6 percent.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing more than 6 percent and Canon is declining almost 5 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are down more than 4 percent each.

Among other major losers, Resona Holdings and Sumitomo Pharma are plunging almost 10 percent each, while Nomura Holdings and Mazda Motor are sliding almost 8 percent each. Concordia Financial and Chiba Bank are slipping more than 7 percent each, while Taiyo Yuden, TDK and Furukawa Electric are declining almost 7 percent each. Fujikura, Dai-ichi Life and Fukuoka Financial are losing more than 6 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia are lower by between 0.2 and 1.1 percent each. China is bucking the trend and is up 0.2 percent. Indonesia remains closed for Eid-ul-Fitr holiday and Taiwan is closed for adjusted holiday. On Wall Street, stocks once again recovered from an early slump to end Wednesday's trading mostly higher, adding to the gains posted in the previous session. The major averages climbed well off their lows to end the day firmly in positive territory.

The major averages gave back ground in early afternoon trading but moved back to the upside going into the close. The Nasdaq advanced 151.16 points or 0.9 percent to 7,601.05, the S&P 500 climbed 37.90 points or 0.7 percent to 5,670.97 and the Dow rose 235.36 points or 0.6 percent to 42,225.32.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slid by 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices ticked higher again on Wednesday, despite data showing an unexpected increase by U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery rose $0.51 or 0.7 percent to $71.71 a barrel.