Asian Markets Trading Mixed

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are mixed in the final session of the year on Friday, following the lackluster cues from Wall Street overnight, amid optimism about the likelihood of near-term interest rate cuts by the US Fed, but traders are cautious and remain reluctant to make significant moves going into the end of the year and ahead of the New Year's long weekend. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

Giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is modestly lower on Friday, following the lackluster cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 7,600 level, with losses across most sectors led by gold miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 23.30 points or 0.31 percent to 7,591.00, after hitting a low of 7,581.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 23.20 points or 0.30 percent to 7,828.90. Australian markets ended significantly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging down 0.5 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy, Santos and Beach energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Zip is declining almost 2 percent and Xero is losing almost 1 percent. Appen is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are all edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each. Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent, Newmont is declining more than 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is slipping almost 3 percent, while Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are down almost 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.684 on Friday.

Adding to the losses in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Friday after opening in the green, following the lacklustre cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is falling below the 33,500 level, as traders continued to book profits in the last session of the year after the recent strength in the market.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 33,470.37, down 69.25 points or 0.21 percent, after hitting a low of 33,07.76 earlier. Japanese stocks closed notably lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining almost 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.3 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.4 percent, while Canon and Panasonic are losing almost 1 percent each. Sony is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among other major losers, Sumitomo Pharma is losing more than 3 percent.

Conversely, Rakuten Group is surging almost 6 percent and Nintendo is gaining more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 141 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is gaining 1.6 percent, while China and Singapore are up 0.4 and 0.9 percent, respectively. Hong Kong and Indonesia is lower by 0.3 percent each. New Zealand, Malaysia and Taiwan are relatively flat. On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance during trading on Thursday, extending the choppy trading seen throughout much of the week. The major averages eventually ended the session narrowly mixed.

While the Nasdaq edged down 4.04 points or less than a tenth of a percent to15,096.14, the Dow inched up 53.58 points or 0.1 percent to a new record closing high of 37,710.10 and the S&P 500 crept up 1.77 points or less than a tenth of a percent to a nearly two-year closing high of 4.783.35.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday on easing concerns about trade disruptions after several shipping companies resumed transit via the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $2.34 or 3 percent at $71.77 a barrel.