Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as some traders looked to cash in and book profits after the recent strength in the markets. The weakness in major currencies in the region against the US dollar also hurt market sentiment. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous five sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just below the 7,300 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, aided by gains in gold miners and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 47.20 points or 0.65 percent to 7,298.40, after touching a high of 7,301.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 41.60 points or 0.56 percent to 7,492.80. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is down more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.1 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos and Woodside Energy are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Beach energy is edging down 0.2 percent. Origin Energy is flat.

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

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources and Newcrest Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is adding more than 2 percent and Evolution Mining is up more than 1 percent. Northern Star Resources is flat.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Lake Resources are plunging almost 16 percent after the lithium developer reported disappointing operational update for its Kachi brine project in Argentina amid higher operational costs.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.685 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly higher on Monday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 staying above the 33,700 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, aided by gains in financial stocks, partially offset by losses in technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 33,724.60, up 18.52 or 0.05 percent, after touching a high of 33,772.89 and a low of 33,498.77 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is declining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing more than 2 percent, Advantest is declining more than 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is down almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is advancing more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are higher. Canon and Panasonic are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 1 percent and Sony is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among other major gainers, Sharp is gaining more than 4 percent and Sumitomo Pharma is adding almost 3 percent.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance throughout much of the trading session on Friday before coming under pressure in the latter part of the session. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way lower.

The major averages finished the session just off their worst levels of the day. The Nasdaq slid 93.25 points or 0.7 percent to 13,689.57, the S&P 500 fell 16.25 points or 0.4 percent to 4,409.59 and the Dow dipped 108.94 points or 0.3 percent to 34,299.12.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.3 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday amid hopes about higher refinery demand and that further stimulus in China will help boost growth in the world’s second largest economy. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended higher by $1.16 or 1.6 percent at $71.78 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 2.3 percent in the week.

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