CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Wednesday with modest gains as investors turned cautious following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street amid uncertainty about the U.S.-China trade war and the inversion of a U.S. Treasury yield curve to its worst level since 2007 that led to renewed concerns about a looming recession.
The Australian market is flat, as gains by oil and mining stocks were offset by weakness in the financial sector.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is down 5.50 points or 0.08 percent to 6,465.70, after touching a high of 6,477.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 3.50 points or 0.05 percent to 6,562.10. Australian stocks rose on Tuesday.
The big four banks are weak. ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are lower in a range of 0.4 percent to 1 percent.
Macquarie Group said it plans to raise $1 billion in capital to bolster investments and meet new regulatory credit risk requirements and reported a 17 percent increase in full-year profit. The wealth management and financial services group's shares are in a trading halt ahead of the capital raising.
Among the major miners, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are rising 0.6 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is declining more than 1 percent.
In the oil sector, Woodside Petroleum is advancing almost 1 percent, Santos is adding 0.5 percent and Oil Search is up 0.2 percent after crude oil prices snapped a four-day losing streak and rose overnight.
Gold miners are notably higher after gold prices rose to a near six-and-a-half year closing high overnight. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 3 percent and Newcrest Mining is advancing more than 2 percent.
Shares of Telstra are down 0.2 percent as the telecommunications giant traded ex-dividend.
Virgin Australia Holdings said it will cut 750 corporate and head office positions as part of a restructuring after reporting its seventh consecutive full-year loss. The airline's shares are losing 9 percent.
Bellamy's Australia reported a 49 percent fall in full-year profit on lower revenues, but projected a return to growth in fiscal 2020. The infant formula maker's shares are losing almost 6 percent.
Afterpay Touch Group reported a full-year statutory loss that widened from last year, while underlying earnings were flat with the prior year. The buy now, pay later provider's shares are gaining almost 8 percent.
On the economic front, Australia is scheduled to release second-quarter figures for construction work done.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is higher against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday. The local currency was quoted at $0.6755, up from $0.6751 on Tuesday.
The Japanese market is modestly higher following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street. Investors also digested news that Japan has officially removed South Korea from the whitelist of preferred trading partners today.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 42.84 points or 0.21 percent to 20,498.92, after touching a low of 20,433.31 earlier. Japanese shares rebounded on Tuesday after sharp losses in the previous session.
The major exporters are mostly lower despite a slightly weaker yen. Mitsubishi Electric is losing 0.6 percent, Canon is declining 0.4 percent and Sony is down 0.3 percent, while Panasonic is rising 0.3 percent.
In the auto sector, Honda Motor is edging down 0.1 percent and Toyota Motor is lower by 0.2 percent. In the tech space, Advantest is up 0.2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.1 percent.
Market heavyweight SoftBank is rising 0.3 percent, while Fast Retailing is declining 0.6 percent.
Among oil stocks, Inpex is adding 0.6 percent, while Japan Petroleum is declining 1 percent even as crude oil prices rebounded overnight after a four-day losing streak.
Among the major gainers, Kyowa Kirin is gaining more than 3 percent, while Mitsubishi Estate, Taiheiyo Cement, Mitsui Fudosan, Nippon Telgraph & Telephone, and NEC Corp. are all higher by more than 2 percent each.
On the flip side, Mitsui E&S Holdings is losing more than 4 percent, while Tokyo Tatemono and Yokogawa Electric are lower by more than 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 105 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand is advancing almost 1 percent, while South Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are all modestly higher. Shanghai, Singapore and Malaysia are lower.
On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Tuesday after seeing initial strength as traders continued to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the sell-off seen last Friday. Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders expressed uncertainty about the escalating U.S.-China trade war. The yield curve between the ten-year and two-year yields inverting to its worst level since 2007 also led to renewed concerns about a looming recession.
The Dow slid 120.93 points or 0.5 percent to 25,777.90, the Nasdaq fell 26.79 points or 0.3 percent to 7,826.95 and the S&P 500 dropped 9.22 points or 0.3 percent to 2,869.16.
The major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices rose sharply and snapped a four-day losing streak on Tuesday, after a report indicated deeper OPEC production cuts. Also, traders went long amid expectations of a significant drop in crude stockpiles in the U.S. in the week ended August 23. WTI crude for October ended up $1.29 or 2.4 percent at $54.93 a barrel.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
