CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with Japan leading the losses, as traders remain cautious ahead of the rate decisions by the US Fed and the Bank of Japan in the coming days. They also look ahead to key U.S. inflation data and the September income and spending report later in the day for further clues on the interest rate direction. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.
Report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to a three-year low last week. While the data partly offset recent optimism about the Fed cutting interest rates next week, the central bank is still widely expected to lower rates by another quarter point.
The Australian stock market is trading slightly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous three seasons, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 8,600 level, with gains in gold miners, financial and technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 9.20 points or 0.11 percent to 8,627.60, after hitting a low of 8,591.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.20 points or 0.16 percent to 8,920.90. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.
Among major miners, Mineral Resources is advancing more than 5 percent, BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent and Fortescue is gaining more than 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is losing more than 2 percent.
Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is losing more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is down almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Beach energy are gaining almost 1 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Zip is adding almost 4 percent, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.1 percent and Appen is advancing almost 3 percent, while Xero is losing more than 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Westpac is gaining almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are mostly higher. Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are adding almost 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining and Newmont are gaining more than 2 percent each. Genesis Minerals is advancing 1.5 percent.
In other news, shares in NextDC are jumping more than 5 percent after confirmation that the data centre provider has inked an MoU with OpenAI to develop a sovereign artificial intelligence infrastructure partnership.
Shares in Premier Investments are diving more than 13 percent as the Peter Alexander and Smiggle owner announced a 12-month on-market share buyback of up to $100 million following the completion of its Apparel Brands sale to Myer.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.661 on Friday.
Snapping a three-session winning streak, the Japanese market is trading significantly lower on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 50,500 level, with weakness across most sectors led by exporters and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 50,465.14, down 563.28 points or 1.10 percent, after hitting a low of 50,215.41 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing almost 2 percent and Honda is also declining almost 2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are declining more than 2 percent each, while Screen Holdings is losing more than 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.1 percent, Mizuho Financial is declining more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 1 percent.
Among the major exporters, Sony, Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are declining almost 2 percent each, while Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent.
Among other major losers, Trend Micro is tumbling more than 6 percent and Renesas Electronics is losing more than 4 percent, while Bridgestone and Fuji Electric are declining almost 4 percent each. Mazda Motor is slipping more than 3 percent, while Suzuki Motor, Dai Nippon Printing, Nintendo, Central Japan Railway, Komatsu and Aeon are down almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Sharp and Ibiden are gaining almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 154 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.5 percent each, while South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Thursday after moving higher over the two previous sessions. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closed narrowly mixed.
While the Nasdaq rose 51.04 points or 0.2 percent to 23,505.14 and the S&P 500 inched up 7.40 points or 0.1 percent to 6,857.12, the narrower Dow edged down 31.96 points or 0.1 percent to 47,850.94.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices advanced on Thursday as expectations of an end to the Russia-Ukraine war dimmed. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.70 or 1.19 percent at $59.65 per barrel.
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