CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders reacted to data from the U.S. that showed a bigger than expected increase in U.S. consumer price growth, fueling concerns that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates more aggressively to fight elevated inflation. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.
Traders also remain worried and cautious amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus Omicron variant in most countries and the likely economic impact.
The U.S. Labor Department said the annual rate of growth in consumer prices accelerated more than expected in January, the biggest spike since February of 1982. Hawkish comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard indicated he supports raising interest rates by 50 basis points next month as part of a plan to raise rates by a full percentage point by the start of July.
The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Friday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, with weakness in materials, technology and financial stocks as traders reacted to data from the U.S. that showed a bigger than expected increase in U.S. consumer price growth.
Traders also remain concerned over the domestic COVID-19 cases, though on a steady decline despite some recent spikes. New South Wales records 8,950 new cases and 19 deaths on Thursday. Victoria reported 8,521 new cases and 13 deaths, Queensland recorded 5,977 new cases and 14 deaths, Tasmania reported 552 new cases and South Australia reported 1,445 new cases.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 51.60 points or 0.71 percent to 7,236.90, after hitting a low of 7,191.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 58.90 points or 0.78 percent to 7,536.60. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining 1.5 percent and OZ Minerals is edging down 0.3 percent, while Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent, while BHP Group is up more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.4 percent.
Oil stocks are lower. Origin Energy is losing more than 2 percent, Beach energy is down almost 1 percent and Woodside Petroleum is edging down 0.5 percent. Santos is flat.
Among tech stocks, Appen is plunging almost 7 percent, Xero is losing almost 4 percent, WiseTech Global is down 2.5 percent, Zip is sliding more than 6 percent and Block is slipping almost 6 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 2 percent and ANZ Banking is edging down 0.3 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are flat.
Gold miners are lower. Resolute Mining is plunging 6.5 percent, Evolution Mining is losing almost 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is down more than 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is declining more than 2 percent. Newcrest Mining is flat.
In other news, shares in Insurance Australia Group are up more than 2 percent after swinging to a profit for the half-year, but was hit by shrinking margins. It also declared a lower dividend.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.715 on Friday.
The Japanese stock market is closed for National Foundation Day holiday on Friday, Japanese shares closed modestly higher on Thursday.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the 116 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand is plunging 1.9 percent, while Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.4 percent each. China, Singapore and Malaysia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.3 percent each.
On Wall Street, stocks recovered from a sell-off at the start of trading on Thursday only to pullback sharply over the course of the session. With the steep drop on the day, the major averages largely offset the strong upward move seen over the two previous sessions.
The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but still ended the day sharply lower. The Dow tumbled 526.47 points or 1.5 percent to 35,241.59, the Nasdaq dove 304.73 points or 2.1 percent to 14,185.64 and the S&P 500 plunged 83.10 points or 1.8 percent to 4,504.08.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday, gaining for a second straight day as falling crude inventories continued to support the commodity's prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.22 or 0.25 percent at $89.88 a barrel.
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