Asian Markets A Sea Of Red

Asian stock markets are a sea of red on Thursday, reflecting the broadly sell-off on Wall Street overnight, amid disappointing earnings reports, a surge in Treasury yields, concerns about interest rates and the outlook for economic growth. Worries about the conflict in the Middle East amidst reports of an imminent ground invasion of Gaza by Israel also weighed on the markets. Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.

Traders also looked ahead to key US economic data in the coming days, including a preliminary reading on third quarter GDP on Thursday and personal income on Friday.

Dragged by the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, Australian shares are trading significantly lower and losing for the second straight session on Thursday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling a tad below the 6,800 level to near 12-month lows, with losses across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 57.30 points or 0.84 percent to 6,797.00, after hitting a low of 6,777.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 60.70 points or 0.86 percent to 6,985.60. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Fortescue Metals is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent, while BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent and Rio Tinto is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is edging up 0.3 percent and Beach energy is gaining almost 2 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.3 percent. Origin Energy is flat.

In the tech space, Xero and Zip are declining more than 3 percent each, while Appen is sliding more than 6 percent, Afterpay owner Block is slipping 7.5 percent and WiseTech Global is losing almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are all losing almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources are losing almost 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining is declining more than 2 percent and Resolute Mining is slipping more than 4 percent. Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Azure Minerals are skyrocketing almost 43 percent after the lithium explorer agreed to a $1.63 billion buyout from Chilean giant Sociedad Química y Minera.

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

Mirroring the sell-off on Wall Street overnight, Japanese shares are trading sharply lower on Thursday after gaining for the two straight sessions. The Nikkei 225 Index is falling to a tad above the 30,600 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 30,602.44, down 667.48 points or 2.13 percent, after hitting a low of 30,583.38 earlier. Japanese stocks closed significantly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 4 percent and uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing almost 2 percent and Honda is down more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 6 percent, Tokyo Electron is down more than 4 percent and Screen Holdings is declining almost 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Sony is losing almost 2 percent and Panasonic is declining almost 1 percent.

Among other major losers, Sumco and Renesas Electronics are losing almost 4 percent each, while Mitsui Fudosan, Mercari and Nidec are down more than 3 percent each. Hoya, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Fujikura, Dentsu Group and Nikon are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 2.1 percent on year in September, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday – unchanged from the August reading and topping expectations for an increase of 2.0 percent. On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.1 percent – unchanged an in line with forecasts. Excluding international transportation, producer prices rose 0.2 percent on month and 2.3 percent on year.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is down 2.2 percent, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.6 and 1.4 percent. Malaysia is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks managed to finish Tuesday’s session mostly higher but showed a substantial move back to the downside during trading on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the pullback, plunging to a five-month closing low.

The Nasdaq tumbled 318.65 points or 2.4 percent to 12,821.22, reflecting its worst day since February. The S&P 500 also slumped 60.91 points or 1.4 percent to 4,186.77, its lowest closing level in almost five months, while the narrower Dow fell 105.45 points or 0.3 percent to 33,035.93.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed modest moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index both rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, snapping a three-day losing streak amid likely disruptions in supply due to the tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $1.65 or 1.97 percent at $85.39 a barrel.

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