CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Wednesday following the modest gains overnight on Wall Street and as trade worries eased following the agreement on a U.S.-China trade deal.
However, renewed concerns about Brexit weighed on sentiment following reports that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is taking a hard line on Britain's transition period for leaving the European Union.
The Australian market is modestly higher following the lackluster cues from Wall Street. Gains by oil stocks were almost offset by weakness in the mining and financial sectors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 8.60 points or 0.13 percent to 6,855.90, after touching a low of 6,833.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is rising 10.10 points or 0.15 percent to 6,960.60. Australian stocks closed marginally lower on Tuesday.
Oil stocks are higher after crude oil prices rose to a three-month high overnight. Oil Search is gaining almost 3 percent, Santos is rising more than 1 percent and Woodside Petroleum is adding 0.5 percent.
In the banking space, National Australia Bank is declining almost 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac Banking are down 0.3 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.1 percent.
Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is declining almost 1 percent and BHP is down 0.1 percent, while Fortescue Metals is advancing almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are mixed after gold prices edged up overnight. Evolution Mining is losing 1 percent, while Newcrest Mining is adding 0.2 percent.
Prime Media Group said that Seven West Media's acquisition of the company is unlikely to be approved by its shareholders even as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or ACCC has cleared the A$64 million takeover. Shares of Prime Media are unchanged, while Seven West Media is gaining almost 3 percent.
Coca-Cola Amatil said that Martyn Roberts has resigned as its chief financial officer ahead of his move to Ramsay Health Care in the first half of next year. The beverages packaging company's shares are advancing more than 1 percent.
On the economic front, Australia will see November results for skilled vacancies and for the Westpac leading economic index today.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday. The local currency was quoted at $0.6854, compared to $0.6866 on Tuesday.
The Japanese market is modestly lower following the lackluster cues from Wall Street. Investors remained cautious as they digested data that showed Japan's exports declined in November for the twelfth straight month.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is declining 57.51 points or 0.24 percent to 24,008.61, after touching a low of 23,979.20 earlier. Japanese shares touched a more than one-year high on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp. is adding more than 1 percent and Fast Retailing is edging up 0.1 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower on a slightly stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric is lower by almost 2 percent, Panasonic is declining almost 1 percent and Sony is down 0.5 percent, while Canon is adding 0.2 percent.
Among auto stocks, Toyota Motor is down 0.2 percent and Honda Motor is declining 0.3 percent. In the oil sector, Inpex is adding 0.4 percent and Japan Petroleum is up 0.3 percent after crude oil prices rose to a three-month high overnight.
In the tech space, Advantest is lower by 0.7 percent, while Tokyo Electron is adding 0.2 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Hitachi is rising 3 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Trust and Olympus Corp. are higher by more than 2 percent each.
The Nikkei Asian Review reported that Hitachi will likely pay Mitsubishi Heavy Industries a compensation of about $4 billion to settle their dispute over losses related to coal-fired power plants in South Africa.
On the flip side, Daiichi Sankyo is losing almost 4 percent and Sumco Corp. is lower by almost 3 percent. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Mitsui OSK, Fujikura and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma are all declining more than 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 109 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Taiwan are modestly lower, while Shanghai and South Korea are edging lower. Meanwhile, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia are higher.
On Wall Street, stocks closed modestly higher on Tuesday in choppy trading. With a phase one U.S.-China trade deal nearing the finishing line and the Federal Reserve likely on hold for the foreseeable future, investors will need to find new sources of inspiration. In the meantime, traders seemed reluctant to cash in on recent strength in the markets amid the release of a batch of upbeat U.S. economic data.
The Dow edged up 31.27 points or 0.1 percent to 28,267.16, the Nasdaq inched up 9.13 points or 0.1 percent to 8,823.36 and the S&P 500 crept up 1.07 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 3,192.52.
The major European markets gave back some ground on Tuesday following recent strength. The German DAX Index slid by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.1 percent.
Crude oil prices closed higher on Tuesday for the fourth consecutive session. WTI crude for January delivery climbed $0.73 to a new three-month closing high of $60.94 a barrel.
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