CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Friday following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street amid continued uncertainty over Brexit and the U.S.-China trade tensions. Investors also turned cautious following the release of Amazon.com's earnings results that showed the e-commerce giant's first quarterly profit drop in more than two years.
The Australian market is extending gains from the previous session, with most sectors trading higher. Tech and healthcare stocks are among the leading gainers.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 46.60 points or 0.70 percent to 6,740.20, after rising to a high of 6,740.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 43.60 points or 0.64 percent to 6,840.30. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.
The tech stocks followed their U.S. peers higher. Bravura Solutions is advancing almost 4 percent, Afterpay Touch Group is gaining more than 3 percent and Appen is rising more than 2 percent.
ResMed reported a nearly 14 percent increase in first-quarter profit, while revenue increased 17 percent on a constant currency basis. The medical device maker's shares are gaining almost 14 percent.
Among other healthcare stocks, Cochlear is rising almost 2 percent and CSL is advancing more than 1 percent.
Oil stocks are also higher after crude oil prices rose for a third straight session overnight. Santos is adding 0.6 percent, Woodside Petroleum is rising 0.4 percent and Oil Search is up 0.2 percent.
Gold miners Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are rising more than 1 percent each after gold prices settled at a two-week high overnight.
Among the major miners, Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is adding 0.7 percent, while BHP Billiton is edging down 0.1 percent.
In the banking space, ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are advancing in a range of 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent, while Westpac is edging down 0.1 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday. The local currency was quoted at $0.6817, down from $0.6845 on Thursday.
The Japanese market is modestly higher, tracking the mixed cues from Wall Street and the European Central Bank's decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
Investors are also cautious as they digested news that Japan's Trade Minister Isshu Sugawara has resigned, following allegations of election law violations. Tech stocks are among the major gainers, following their U.S. counterparts higher.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 32.08 points or 0.14 percent to 22,782.68, after rising to a high of 22,819.92 earlier.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 3 percent and Advantest is rising 2 percent.
The major exporters are lower on a slightly stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric is losing 0.7 percent, Canon is declining 0.6 percent and Panasonic is down 0.2 percent.
Billionaire investor Daniel Loeb said he is disappointed with Sony's decision to maintain the 'status quo' even after his hedge fund Third Point presented a list of steps to be taken to improve Sony's valuation and position the company for long-term success. However, shares of Sony are adding 0.4 percent.
Among auto stocks, Honda Motor is declining 0.2 percent and Toyota Motor is edging down 0.1 percent.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Fast Retailing is lower by 0.4 percent.
Bloomberg reported that SoftBank is planning to write down at least $5 billion to account for a plunge in the value of some of its biggest holdings, such as WeWork and Uber Technologies.
Among the other major gainers, Eisai Co. is gaining almost 12 percent and Chugai Pharmaceutical is rising almost 4 percent.
On the flip side, Kuraray Co is losing more than 6 percent and NTN Corp. is lower by almost 3 percent.
In economic news, Japan will release final September numbers for machine tool orders today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 108 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai, South Korea, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are all modestly lower, while Singapore is modestly higher.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Thursday, though strength among tech stocks contributed to a notable advance by the Nasdaq following upbeat earnings results from software giant Microsoft and electric car maker Tesla. Traders were also digesting a slew of U.S. economic data, including a report from the Commerce Department showing a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment contributed to a bigger than expected decrease in durable goods orders in September.
While the Dow edged down 28.42 points or 0.1 percent to 26,805.51, the Nasdaq climbed 66.00 points or 0.8 percent to 8,185.80 and the S&P 500 rose 5.77 points or 0.2 percent to 3,010.29.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Thursday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 0.6 percent.
Crude oil futures ended higher on Thursday, extending gains to a third straight session, amid rising hopes the OPEC and allies will extend output cuts beyond March 2020, and might even consider increasing the quantum of cuts. WTI crude for December ended up $0.26, or about 0.5 percent, at $56.23 a barrel.
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