CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious amid escalation in hostilities between Israel and Iran after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered intensified strikes on Iran, targeting 'strategic' and 'government' sites in Tehran, as well as speculation about the U.S. joining Israel's offensive Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.
Traders continue to be concerned of serious global financial and commodity market disruptions for a prolonged period if more nations participate in the Middle East crisis.
The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, following he broadly negative cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,500 level, with weakness in iron ore miners and financial stocks and a mixed performance in all other sectors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 42.90 points or 0.50 percent to 8,480.80, after touching a high of 8,526.50 and a low of 8,462.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 40.10 points or 0.46 percent to 8,701.30. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.5 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent, while Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are losing more than 1 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos, Beach energy and Woodside Energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block and Xero are edging down 0.2 percent each, while WiseTech Global is edging up 0.3 percent, Appen is advancing almost 4 percent and Zip is gaining more than 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are mixed. Gold Road Resources and Newmont are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Evolution Mining, Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.
In other news, shares in Bowen Coking Coalare plummeting more than 44 percent after saying it could temporarily pause operations at part, or all, of its flagship Burton Mine Complex near Moranbah amid depressed coal markets and the 'unsustainable' Queensland coal royalty regime.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.649 on Friday.
Extending the losses in the previous session, the Japanese market is slightly lower on Friday after opening in the red and briefly treading in to the green, following the broadly negative cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 38,450 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,445.57, down 42.77 points or 0.11 percent, after hitting a low of 38,362.54 and a high of 38,646.16 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is flat and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.2 percent and Honda is flat.
In the tech space, Advantest is surging more than 5 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.3 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.
Among the major exporters, Sony is losing more than 1 percent, Panasonic is down almost 1 percent and Canon is edging down 0.4 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent.
Among other major losers, J. Front Retailing, Mercari, Nintendo and IHI are losing almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Amada is surging more than 5 percent, Socionext is gaining more than 3 percent and Taiyo Yuden is adding more than 3 percent.
In economic news, the Bank of Japan will on Friday release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on April 30-May 1. At the meeting, the BoJ left its interest rate unchanged at 0.50 percent and lowered its growth projections, citing trade tariff threats.
Inflation outlook for fiscal 2025 and 2026 were also lowered, mainly due to the fall in crude oil prices and the downward revision of the GDP growth rates.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 145 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia are higher by between 0.1 and 1.0 percent each. Indonesia and Taiwan are down 1.2 and 0.7 percent, respectively. New Zealand is closed for New Year's Day.
On Wall Street, the markets were closed for Juneteenth Day on Thursday after closing mixed on Wednesday.
The major European markets ended lower on the day Germany's DAX stumbled 260.43 points or 1.12 percent to finish at 23,057.38, while the FTSE 100 in London sank 51.67 points or 0.58 percent to close at 8,791.80 and the CAC 40 in France slumped 102.67 points or 1.34 percent to end at 7,553.45.
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