CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Monday despite the positive cues from Wall Street Friday following upbeat corporate earnings results and better-than-expected U.S. GDP data.
Investors turned cautious ahead of the U.S-China trade talks set to resume this week and the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due on Wednesday.
The Australian market is advancing in cautious trades following the gains on Wall Street Friday.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 27.50 points or 0.40 percent to 6,820.90, after rising to a high of 6,822.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 28.30 points or 0.41 percent to 6,907.60. Australian stocks closed lower on Friday after three consecutive days of gains.
Tech stocks followed their U.S. peers higher. Appen is gaining more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is advancing more than 1 percent.
Afterpay Touch said it has appointed an external auditor to conduct an AUSTRAC-ordered review of its compliance with financial crime regulation. The tech company's shares are gaining almost 3 percent.
Gold miners are gaining after gold prices rose on Friday. Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining are advancing more than 1 percent each.
The big four banks - ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank National Australia Bank and Westpac - are higher in a range of 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent.
In the mining space, BHP Group is declining 0.6 percent and Fortescue Metals is down 0.2 percent, while Rio Tinto is adding 0.3 percent.
Oil stocks are also mostly lower despite a modest increase in crude oil prices. Santos is losing more than 1 percent and Woodside Petroleum is edging down 0.1 percent, while Oil Search is rising 0.3 percent.
Oliver's Real Foods said it has accepted a short-term loan from its founder and chief executive Jason Gunn as it grapples with a deficit. The café chain's shares are also rising almost 3 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar on Monday. The local currency was quoted at $0.6910, compared to $0.6942 on Friday.
The Japanese market is declining despite the positive cues from Wall Street Friday on a stronger yen and as investors remained cautious.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 103.75 points or 0.48 percent to 21,554.40, after touching a low of 21,518.70 earlier. Japanese stocks closed lower on Friday.
The major exporters are lower on a stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 1 percent and Canon is down 0.5 percent, while Panasonic and Sony are lower by 0.4 percent each.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is lower by almost 2 percent and Fanuc is losing more than 1 percent, while Advantest is up 0.2 percent.
Market heavyweight SoftBank is rising more than 1 percent, while Fast Retailing is lower by 0.4 percent. In the auto sector, Honda Motor is down 0.6 percent and Toyota Motor is declining 0.4 percent.
Among oil stocks, Inpex and Japan Petroluem are lower by more than 1 percent each even as crude oil prices rose modestly overnight.
Among the other major gainers, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is gaining almost 5 percent, Oki Electric Industry is higher by 3 percent and Kansai Electric Power is rising almost 3 percent.
On the flip side, Shizuoka Bank is losing almost 5 percent, while Kyocera Corp., Tokuyama Corp. and NSK are lower by more than 3 percent each.
On the economic front, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that the value of retail sales in Japan was roughly unchanged in June on a seasonally adjusted basis. That exceeded expectations for a decline of 0.3 percent following the upwardly revised 0.4 percent gain in May.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-108 yen range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is declining almost 2 percent and Hong Kong is lower by more than 1 percent, while Shanghai, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan are also lower. The New Zealand market is higher.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Friday, with a rally by the tech-heavy Nasdaq partly due to gains by shares of Google parent Alphabet and social media giant Twitter on upbeat second-quarter earnings results. Traders were also reacting to a report from the Commerce Department showing U.S. economic growth slowed in the second quarter, but still exceeded economist estimates.
The Nasdaq surged up 91.67 points or 1.1 percent to 8,330.21, while the S&P 500 climbed 22.19 points or 0.7 percent to 3,025.86 and the Dow rose 51.47 points or 0.2 percent to 27,192.45.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Friday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index rose by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures edged higher on Friday after swinging between gains and losses as traders weighed demand and supply prospects for the commodity. WTI crude for September ended up $0.18 or about 0.3 percent, at $56.20 a barrel.
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