Asian Markets Track Global Markets Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders reacted to the latest US Fed policy meeting minutes that showed most officials would support further interest rate hikes going ahead, despite the pause in June. Disappointing service sector data from China and the Europe weighed as well. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

The minutes also showed the members disagreed on rate hikes. After the June meeting, all but two of the 18 participants expected that at least one hike would be appropriate this year, and 12 expected two or more hikes.

The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with losses across most sectors, led by mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 79.60 points or 1.10 percent to 7,173.60, after hitting a low of 7,171.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 77.80 points or 1.04 percent to 7,375.30. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent, while Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are down more than 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are lower. Santos and Beach energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 6 percent, Zip is gaining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.2 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.3 percent and Appen is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining are declining more than 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is down almost 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is slipping almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Magellan Financial are plunging almost 7 percent after it disclosed $2.1 billion in outflows in the month of June.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.666 on Thursday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 33,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with losses across most sectors, led by technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 32,933.19, down 405.51 points or 1.22 percent, after hitting a low of 32,857.94 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.5 percent, while Honda is edging down 0.1 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down almost 1 percent.

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

Among other major losers, Renesas Electronics is losing almost 4 percent and Daikin Industries is down more than 3 percent, while Dowa Holdings, Yaskawa Electric and TDK are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Kobe Steel is gaining almost 5 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 144 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are down 2.1 and 1.2 percent, respectively. China, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, are down between 0.2 and 0.5 percent each. New Zealand and Indonesia are up 0.1 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks ended weak on Wednesday although those from the technology sector managed to briefly emerge higher around mid-morning. Lingering concerns about the impact of rising interest rates on economic growth weighed. The mood was cautious with investors focusing on the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting.

The major averages all ended modestly lower. The Dow ended with a loss of 129.83 points or 0.38 percent at 34,288.64. The S&P 500 settled at 4,446.82 with a loss of 8.77 points or 0.2 percent, while the Nasdaq closed lower by 25.12 points or 0.18 percent at 13,791.65.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.03 percent, Germany’s DAX ended 0.63 percent down and France’s CAC 40 drifted down 0.8 percent. The pan European Stoxx 600 lost 0.73 percent.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Wednesday, buoyed by government data showing a significant jump in U.S. crude shipments last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.00 or 2.9 percent at $71.79 a barrel.

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