Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, on waning optimism over the outlook for interest rate amid concerns about the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which entered its ninth day with no end in sight. The economic impact of a prolonged suspension of non-essential government services may be starting to weigh on the markets. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

US Fed Governor Michael Barr said the central bank should move "cautiously" due to considerable uncertainty about the future course of the economy, leaning heavily into the risks of inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell provided no new policy updates.

With three weeks until the US Fed's next policy meeting, New York Fed President John Williams signaled he would be comfortable cutting rates again.

The Australian stock market is trading slightly lower on Friday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is well below the 9,000 level, with weakness in mining and energy stocks partially offset by gains in financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 3.00 points or 0.03 percent to 8,966.80, after hitting a low of 8,938.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 4.00 points or 0.04 percent to 9,272.60. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are declining more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue is losing more than 1 percent. Mineral Resources is gaining almost 4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent and Beach energy is declining almost 2 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block and Xero are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Zip is advancing almost 2 percent and Appen is gaining almost 1 percent. WiseTech Global is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, while National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources, Evolution Mining and Newmont are losing more than 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is tumbling almost 4 percent and Genesis Minerals is declining more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.656 on Friday.

Reversing the sharp gains in the previous session, the Japanese market is notably lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 48,350 level, with weakness across most sectors led by exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 48,087.75, down 492.69 points or 1.01 percent, after hitting a low of 48,073.69 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is surging almost 6 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing almost 1 percent and Honda is declining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.5 percent and Screen Holdings is declining more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down more than 1 percent, Mizuho Financial is losing almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining more than 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is declining more than 3 percent, Canon is down more than 1 percent, Panasonic is slipping almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 2 percent.

Among other major losers, Sumitomo Chemical is losing more than 4 percent, while Sumitomo Metal Mining, Konica Minolta and IHI are losing almost 4 percent each. Hitachi, Tokyo Electric Power, Japan Steel Works, Nomura Holdings, ENEOS Holdings, Tokai Carbon and Mitsubishi Materials are all declining more than 3 percent each, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hino Motors and Dowa Holdings are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Yaskawa Electric, Ryohin Keikaku and Fanuc are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 0.3 percent on month in September, the Bank of Japan said on Friday. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 0.1 percent following the 0.2 percent contraction in August. On a yearly basis, producer prices climbed 2.7 percent - again topping forecasts for 2.5 percent but unchanged from the previous month.

The Bank of Japan also said the value of overall bank lending in Japan was up 3.8 percent on year in September, coming in at 647.891 trillion yen. That beat forecasts for an increase of 3.7 percent and was up from the downwardly revised 3.5 percent gain in August (originally 3.6 percent). Excluding trusts, lending was up an annual 4.2 percent at 569.235 trillion yen, up from 3.8 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 152 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each, while South Korea is bucking the trend and is up 1.3 percent in post-holidays trades. Singapore is relatively flat. Taiwan is closed for Double Tenth Day.

On Wall Street, stocks saw some weakness during trading on Thursday, giving back ground following the advance seen over the course of the previous session. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulling back off yesterday's record closing highs.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 climbed well off their worst levels going into the close but remained in the red. The Nasdaq edged down 18.75 points or 0.1 percent to 23,024.63, the S&P 500 fell 18.61 points or 0.3 percent to 6,735.11 and the Dow slid 243.36 points or 0.5 percent to 46,358.42.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index crept up 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped 0.2 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Thursday due to the possible easing of hostilities in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.10 or 1.76 percent at $61.45 per barrel.