Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remained cautious after renewed Israeli strikes on Lebanon raised doubts about the durability of a fragile two-week Middle East ceasefire agreed upon by the U.S. and Iran. Disputes between Tehran and the US-Israeli side remain over whether the truce extends to Lebanon. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.

A senior Iranian official said three provisions of the ceasefire proposal had already been breached. The Strait of Hormuz remains largely obstructed and Iranian media reported that oil tanker traffic through the strait had been suspended following the attacks.

US President Donald Trump had agreed to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for two weeks subject to Tehran agreeing to the complete and immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

A subsequent statement from Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi indicated the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened for a period of two weeks if the attacks against Iran are halted.

The Australian market is trading slightly lower on Thursday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 8,950 level, with weakness in mining and technology stocks nearly offset by gains in energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 1.20 points or 0.01 percent to 8,950.60, after hitting a low of 8,904.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 15.20 points or 0.17 percent to 9,150.50. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy and Origin Energy are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Santos is adding more than 2 percent and Woodside Energy is advancing almost 3 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block losing more than 3 percent, Zip is tumbling almost 7 percent and Appen is declining almost 3 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are slipping more than 5 percent each.

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

Among gold miners, Newmont is declining more than 3 percent, Northern Star Resources is down almost 2 percent and Genesis Minerals is slipping more than 4 percent, while Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are losing almost 3 percent each.

In other news, shares in Orora are tumbling more than 15 percent after the company slashed its FY26 EBIT guidance for its Saverglass division due to the ongoing Middle East conflict.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.704 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is notably lower on Thursday after opening lower and briefly swaying in to the green, snapping a four-session winning streak, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 56,000 level, with some weakness in exporters, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 55,997.18, down 311.24 points or 0.55 percent, after hitting a low of 55,839.24 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing almost 1 percent, while Honda is edging up 0.3 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is losing almost 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent, while Canon and Sony are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among other major losers, Sumitomo Pharma is tumbling more than 6 percent, while ARCHION and SHIFT are losing almost 5 percent each. Socionext is declining almost 4 percent, while Lasertec, CyberAgent, Trend Micro, Disco, NEC and Sumitomo Metal Mining are slipping more than 3 percent each. Taiyo Yuden, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Recruit Holdings and Renesas Electronics are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Yokogawa Electric is advancing almost 4 percent, Toyota Tsusho is gaining more than 3 percent and Sapporo Holdings is adding almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 158 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.3 and 1.1 percent each. New Zealand is bucking the trend and is up 0.2 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher at the start of trading on Wednesday and continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the session. With the surge, the major averages ended the day at their best closing levels in about a month.

The major averages all showed substantial moves to the upside after ending Tuesday's trading narrowly mixed. The Dow spiked 1,325.46 points or 2.9 percent to 47,909.92, the Nasdaq surged 617.15 points or 2.8 percent to 22,635.00 and the S&P 500 shot up 165.96 points or 2.5 percent to 6,782.81.

The major European markets also showed substantial moves to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index spiked by 5.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index surged by 4.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 2.5 percent.

Crude oil prices went into a tailspin Wednesday as supply-disruption risks dissipated following a two-week ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $18.15 or 16.07 percent at $94.80 per barrel.