CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid concerns about the economic impact of US President Donald Trump's unilateral 'reciprocal tariffs' and aggressive trade stance on the global economy. However, the weaker than expected US monthly jobs data increased optimism about a potential interest rate cut by the US Fed as early as September. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.
Trump reordered the global economy by signing an executive order to impose new tariffs on 69 countries trading with the US, with levies ranging anywhere from 15 to 41 percent. The tariffs are set to take effect from August 7 to give room for officials to prepare for the tax collections. He said a 40 percent levy will be imposed on goods that have been transshipped to evade applicable duties.
Australia, however, avoided the brunt of these tariffs. Trade Minister Don Farrell confirmed that the US maintained a baseline 10% duty on Australian exports-the lowest rate among affected countries
The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying just above the 8,650.00 level, with weakness in energy, financial and technology stocks partially offset by strong gains in mining stocks.
Meanwhile, Australia has avoided the harshness of the tariffs as Trade Minister Don Farrell confirmed that the US maintained a baseline 10 percent tariff on Australian exports to the US, the lowest rate among impacted countries.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 21.10 points or 0.24 percent to 8,640.90, after hitting a low of 8,630.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 19.40 points or 0.22 percent to 8,897.70. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Friday.
Among the major miners, Fortescue is gaining more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is adding almost 1 percent, while Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent. Beach energy is gaining 3.5 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining 4.5 percent, WiseTech Global is losing almost 2 percent, Appen is down more than 1 percent, Zip is slipping 1.5 percent and Xero is edging down 0.1 percent.
Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is surging more than 6 percent, Newmont is up almost 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is gaining more than 2 percent, Evolution Mining is adding 4.5 percent and Resolute Mining is jumping almost 6 percent.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are losing more than 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 1 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.648 on Monday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 tumbling well below the 40,150 level, with weakness across all sectors led by exporters, automakers and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 40,134.97, down 664.63 points or 1.63 percent, after hitting a low of 39,850.52 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining 3.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is down 2.5 percent and Toyota is losing more than 2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is declining more than 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is losing almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.4 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are sliding almost 5 percent, while Mizuho Financial is declining almost 4 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic, Sony and Canon are declining almost 3 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 1 percent.
Among the other major losers, Yamaha is tumbling more than 8 percent and Credit Saison is slipping almost 6 percent, while Recruit Holdings and KDDI are losing more than 5 percent each. TDK, Casio Computer and Yaskawa Electric are declining almost 5percent each, while Concordia Financial, Konica Minolta, Chiba Bank and Nitto Denko are down more than 4 percent each.
Conversely, Hoya is gaining more than 3 percent.
In economic news, the monetary base in Japan was down 3.9 percent on year in July, the Bank of Japan said on Monday - coming in at 643.896 trillion yen. That follows the downwardly revised 3.5 percent annual decline in June (originally -3.3 percent). The adjusted monetary base was down 2.8 percent on year at 643.997 trillion yen.
Banknotes in circulation were down 2.4 percent on year, while coins in circulation fell 1.4 percent. Current account balances shrank 4.3 percent on year, including a 2.2 percent decline in reserve balances.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, , Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each, while China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea are higher by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Friday following the downturn seen over the course of Thursday's session. The major averages all moved sharply lower, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulling back well off Thursday's record intraday highs.
The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 472.32 points or 2.2 percent to 47,231.61, the S&P 500 tumbled 101.38 points or 1.6 percent to 6,238.01 and the Dow slumped 542.40 points or 1.2 percent to 43,588.58.
The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index plummeted by 2.9 percent, the German DAX Index plunged by 2.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent.
Crude oil prices fell Friday on demand concerns for potentially reduced consumption amid new tariffs from the U.S. government. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.92 or 2.77 percent at $67.34 per barrel.
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