CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid the ongoing trade concerns following US President Donald Trump's latest comments on tariffs. Trump said he will be announcing new tariffs on semiconductors and chips as well as up to 250 percent on pharmaceuticals imported into the U.S. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.
Australian shares are trading notably higher on Wednesday, adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 8,800 level to all-time record highs, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors led by mining and financial stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 48.30 points or 0.55 percent to 8,818.70, after touching an all-time record high of 8,824.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 56.70 points or 0.63 percent to 9,085.50. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.3 percent and Mineral Resources is adding more than 1 percent, while Fortescue and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos and Beach energy are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.5 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is declining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging down 0.4 percent, while Zip is advancing almost 2 percent, Xero is adding almost 1 percent and Appen is edging up 0.5 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent and Westpac is edging up 0.2 percent, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.2 percent. National Australia bank is flat.
Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are surging almost 6 percent each, while Evolution Mining is gaining almost 3 percent, Newmont is advancing more than 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is up more than 1 percent.
In other news, shares in Lindian Resources are skyrocketing almost 33 percent after it entered into a deal with Iluka for the long-term supply of rare earths concentrate.
Shares in Infomedia are soaring almost 28 percent after its board agreed to an acquisition by McQueen BidCo, which is owned by funds managed or advised by TPG Capital.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.648 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Wednesday after opening well in the red, extending the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving a tad above the 40,800 level, with gains in automakers, exporters and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 40,800.73, up 253.19 points or 0.62 percent, after touching a high of 40,819.50 and a low of 40,423.13 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 2 percent and Toyota is gaining more than 2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is declining more than 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is losing almost 4 percent and Screen Holdings is slipping almost 3 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are adding almost 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is gaining more than 1 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 3 percent, Panasonic is adding more than 2 percent and Sony is gaining 1.5 percent, while Canon is edging down 0.2 percent.
Among other major gainers, Kubota is soaring more than 6 percent and Mitsui Fudosan is surging more than 5 percent, while BANDAI NAMCO, Daikin Industries and Yokogawa Electric are gaining almost 4 percent each. Yamaha Motor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Yamato Holdings are adding more than 3 percent each, while Sharp, Toyota Tsusho, Secom, Japan Steel Works, East Japan Railway and GS Yuasa are advancing almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Nichirei is plummeting more than 9 percent, OKUMA is plunging almost 9 percent, Kanadevia is tumbling almost 6 percent and Renesas Electronics is sliding almost 5 percent, while Mercari, Kikkoman and Recruit Holdings are declining almost 4 percent each. Disco, M3 and Lasertec are losing almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each, while New Zealand and Indonesia are up 0.3 and 0.2 percent, respectively. China is relatively flat.
On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the session on Tuesday after initially extending yesterday's rally in early trading. The major averages all moved to the downside, partly offsetting Monday's strong gains.
The major averages all finished the day in negative territory. The Nasdaq slid 137.03 points or 0.7 percent to 20,916.55, the S&P 500 fell 30.75 points or 0.5 percent to 6,299.19 and the Dow edged down 61.90 points or 0.1 percent to 44,111.74.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid US pressure on India to stop buying oil from Russia, as well as OPEC's recent decision to boost production. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery slumped $1.05 or 1.58 percent to $65.24 per barrel.
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