CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Wednesday following the weak cues overnight from Wall Street on fears of a recession amid a pullback by bond yields.
Investors also turned cautious as they look ahead to the release of minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting later today and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's annual speech at the symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later this week.
The Australian market is declining following the weak cues from Wall Street. Investors also digested mixed local corporate earnings results.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 49.90 points or 0.76 percent to 6,495.10, after touching a low of 6,490.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 45.00 points or 0.68 percent to 6,582.40.
Among the major miners, Fortescue Metals is losing more than 2 percent, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are declining more than 1 percent each.
The big four banks are also weak. ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are lower in a range of 0.4 percent to 0.7 percent, while Westpac is declining more than 1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower even as crude oil prices rose modestly overnight. Woodside Petroleum and Santos are down 0.4 percent each, while Oil Search is adding 0.4 percent.
Bucking the trend, gold miners are advancing after gold prices rose overnight. Evolution Mining is higher by more than 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is rising more than 2 percent.
Crown Resorts said its full-year normalized profit declined 4.7 percent on lower revenue, and maintained its final dividend, but the amount franked fell to 25 percent from 60 percent a year ago. However, the casino operator's shares are adding 0.5 percent.
Stockland reported a nearly 70 percent fall in full-year net profit and expects flat growth in funds from operations per security for the fiscal year 2020. The residential developer's shares are declining more than 3 percent.
Domino's Pizza recorded a 4.6 percent decrease in full-year profit despite a double-digit growth in revenues, while same-store sales declined. The company's shares are losing more than 5 percent.
Brambles said its full-year profit more than doubled from last year, but expects sales revenue growth to be at the lower end of its outlook range amid slowing global economic growth. The pallets and containers company's shares are losing more than 6 percent.
WiseTech Global reported a 32.7 percent increase in full-year profit on strong revenue growth. The logistics software provider's shares are gaining more than 5 percent.
On the economic front, Australia will see July numbers for skilled vacancies and for the leading economic index from Westpac today.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday. The local currency was quoted at $0.6776, down from 0.6783 on Tuesday.
The Japanese market is losing, while the safe-haven yen strengthened following the weak cues from Wall Street.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 126.19 points or 0.61 percent to 20,551.03, after touching a low of 20,482.62 in early trades. Japanese shares rose on Tuesday.
The major exporters are mostly lower on a stronger yen. Canon and Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 1 percent each, while Sony is down 0.4 percent. Panasonic is edging up less than 0.1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is rising more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is higher by almost 1 percent.
Mobile carrier NTT Docomo said it will start taking pre-orders again for Huawei Technologies devices after the U.S. Commerce Department extended a temporary reprieve from sanctions for the Chinese technology giant to November 17. However, shares of NTT Docomo are down 0.4 percent.
Market heavyweight SoftBank is losing more than 3 percent and Fast Retailing is up 0.3 percent. In the auto sector, Honda Motor is lower by 0.4 percent and Toyota Motor is edging down 0.1 percent.
Among oil stocks, Japan Petroleum is edging lower by 0.1 percent and Inpex is declining almost 1 percent even as crude oil prices rose modestly overnight.
Among the other major losers, Kikkoman Corp., Tokyo Electric Power, Toyobo Co. and AGC Inc. are losing more than 3 percent each.
On the economic front, Japan will provide July data for supermarket and department store sales today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 106 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai, Singapore, New Zealand and Malaysia are also lower, while South Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are modestly higher.
On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Tuesday amid a pullback by bond yields, which moved back to the downside following the rebound seen in the previous two sessions. Traders also expressed some uncertainty ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting on Wednesday. The minutes, along with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech on Friday, may shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates.
The Dow slid 173.35 points or 0.7 percent to 25,962.44, the Nasdaq fell 54.25 points or 0.7 percent to 7,948.56 and the S&P 500 slumped 23.14 points or 0.8 percent to 2,900.51.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on Tuesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures ended marginally higher on Tuesday, with traders looking ahead to weekly inventory reports. WTI crude for September expired at $56.34 a barrel, gaining $0.13 or about 0.2 percent. WTI oil futures for October settled slightly lower at $56.13 a barrel.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
