Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as crude oil prices slipped and traders booked profits after the recent gains. The Russia-Ukraine crisis also continues to hurt market sentiment after Russian forces stepped up their attack and bombarded Ukraine's second-largest city and besieged two ports. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.
Traders also remain worried the sanctions imposed on Russia along with the subsequent surge in oil prices could derail the economic recovery even as the U.S. Federal Reserve prepares to begin raising interest rates.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell appeared before the Senate Banking Committee and reiterated the central bank is likely to raise rates by at least 25 basis points at its meeting later this month. Powell's comments came after European Central Bank policymakers this week argued against any drastic shift in monetary policy.
Traders may also have decided to stick to the sidelines ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report later in the day.
The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Friday, snapping the five session winning streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fall below the 7,100 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders booked profits after the recent gains, crude oil prices slipped and amid the continued escalation of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The weakness is seen across all sectors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 56.90 points or 0.80 percent to 7,094.50, after hitting a low of 7,025.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 66.70 points or 0.90 percent to 7,380.10. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 1 percent each, while BHP Group is down almost 1 percent and OZ Minerals is declining more than 3 percent. Mineral Resources is edging up 0.3 percent is flat.
Oil stocks are lower. Beach energy is losing more than 2 percent and Woodside Petroleum is down almost 1 percent, while Santos and Origin Energy are declining more than 1 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Appen is losing almost 4 percent, Xero is down more than 3 percent, WiseTech Global is slipping more than 2 percent, Zip and Afterpay owner Block are plunging almost 9 percent each.
Among the big four banks, Westpac is slipping more than 2 percent, National Australia Bank is losing 1.5 percent and ANZ Banking is down almost 2 percent. Commonwealth Bank is declining almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are lower. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Gold Road Resources and Newcrest Mining are adding more than 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is flat.
In economic news, the value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 1.8 percent on month in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday - coming in at A$32.491 billion. That follows the 4.4 percent monthly drop in January. Total online retailing sales were A$3.893 billion in January. On a yearly basis, retail sales climbed 6.4 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.733 on Friday.
The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Friday, giving up the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 losing 550 points to stay above the 26,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders booked profits after the recent gains and amid the continued escalation of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Traders are also concerned about the sudden spike in daily new domestic cornovirus cases after the recent steady decline. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government will extend its COVID-19 pre-emergency designations for 18 prefectures by two weeks until March 21.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 26,020.60, down 556.67 points or 2.09 percent, after hitting a low of 25,774.28 earlier. Japanese shares closed significantly higher on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 5 percent and Toyota is declining almost 3 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 4 percent, Screen Holdings is declining almost 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is down more than 4 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is losing almost 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is slipping more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 2 percent. Among major exporters, Panasonic is losing almost 3 percent, Sony is declining more than 4 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is down more than 1 percent and Canon is slipping almost 1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, AGC and Sumitomo Chemical are plunging almost 7 percent each, while Hitachi Zosen and Nippon Sheet Glass are down more than 6 percent. Fujikura and Toho Zinc are sliding more than 5 percent each, while M3, TDK and Honda Motor are slipping almost 5 percent each. JTEKT, Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors are declining more than 4 percent each.
Conversely, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is gaining more than 5 percent, Ricoh is adding more than 4 percent and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is up 3.5 percent. In economic news, the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.8 percent in January, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That exceeded expectations for 2.7 percent, which would have been unchanged from the December reading. The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.20, beating forecasts for 1,16, which would have been steady from the previous month. The participation rate slipped to 61.7 percent, missing forecasts for 61.9 percent - which would have been unchanged from December.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 115 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is plunging 2.3 percent and South Korea is losing 1.2 percent, while New Zealand, China, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia are lower by between 0.3 and 0.9 percent each. Indonesia is bucking the trend and is up 0.9 percent after a holiday. On Wall Street, stocks showed wild swings over the course of the trading day on Thursday, extending the volatility seen in recent sessions. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before closing in negative territory.
The major averages all ended the day in the red, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq underperformed its counterparts. While the Nasdaq tumbled 214.08 points or 1.6 percent to 13,537.94, the Dow fell 96.69 points or 0.3 percent to 33,794.66 and the S&P 500 slid 23.05 points or 0.5 percent to 4,363.49.
The major European markets also showed substantial moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.8 percent, the German DAX Index tumbled by 2.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index plunged by 2.6 percent.
U.S. crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday, retreating from multi-year highs on speculation over a possible nuclear deal with Iran. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down by 2.6 percent at $107.67 a barrel.
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