Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as South Korea tumbles more than 7 percent amid a selloff in global semiconductor and technology stocks, which reignited concerns over AI valuations. Traders also kept an eye on the escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran. Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

The US carried out additional strikes against Iranian targets on Wednesday, though US President Donald Trump said Tehran had signaled a willingness to resume negotiations.

The Australian market is trading modestly lower on Thursday after opening in the green, reversing the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,850 level, with weakness in mining and energy stocks partially offset by gains in financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 26.80 points or 0.30 percent to 8,814.30, after touching a high of 8,856.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 23.60 points or 0.26 percent to 9,011.00. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 3 percent, Mineral Resources is tumbling almost 6 percent, Rio Tinto is down more than 1 percent and Fortescue is declining almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 2 percent and Beach energy is edging down 0.3 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are down almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent, Appen is slipping almost 1 percent and Zip is down almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 3 percent and Xero is advancing almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is adding more than 1 percent. Westpac is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among gold miners, Newmont is edging down 0.4 percent, Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent, Evolution Mining is losing almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is declining more than 1 percent, while Genesis Minerals is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.699 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is trading sharply lower on Thursday, reversing the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is plunging 2.8 percent to below the 66,800 level, with weakness in index heavyweights, financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 66,796.79, down 1,954.72 points or 2.84 percent, after hitting a low of 66,499.49 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling more than 7 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent and Honda is also adding more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling more than 7 percent, Screen Holdings is declining almost 6 percent and Tokyo Electron is slipping more than 6 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 1 percent and Panasonic is down almost 1 percent, while Sony is advancing more than 1 percent and Canon is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among other major losers, Kioxia Holdings is tumbling more than 12 percent and Ibiden is plunging almost 9 percent, while Sumitomo Electric Industries, Mitsui Kinzoku, Sumco and Furukawa Electric are slipping more than 7 percent each. Fujikura is sliding almost 7 percent, while Lasertec and Disco are declining almost 6 percent each. Resonac Holdings and Ebara are losing more than 5 percent each, while Socionext is down almost 5 percent.

Conversely, Nichirei is jumping more than 6 percent, while Ryohin Keikaku and Mitsubishi Motors are surging almost 5 percent each. Toho, Pan Pacific International, Shiseido, BayCurrent and NEC are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Nomura Research Institute is advancing almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 162 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is plunging 7.2 percent, while China, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.2 and 1.0 percent each. Hong Kong is down 1.3 percent, while New Zealand and Malaysia are up 0.1 and 0.4 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday after failing to sustain an early move to the upside, but largely maintained a positive bias before closing mostly higher.

The major averages all finished the day in positive territory, adding to the gains posted in the previous session. The Nasdaq advanced 162.22 points or 0.6 percent to 26,269.23, the S&P 500 climbed 28.81 points or 0.4 percent to 7,527.40 and the Dow rose 150.37 points or 0.3 percent to 52,658.64.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Wednesday after U.S. Energy Information Administration data on crude oil inventories indicated weaker-than-expected demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $0.09 or 0.11 percent at $79.25 per barrel.