CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid ambiguity over the outlook for interest rates after some uncertainty about US President Donald Trump's pick for US Fed chair. Traders also remain cautious and may be reluctant to make significant moves amid the developments in Venezuela, political unrest in Iran and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.
The Fed is meeting on January 27-28 to decide on interest rates. CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently revealing that traders are betting on a 95.0% chance that the Fed will leave the rates unchanged.
The Australian stock market is notably lower on Monday, snapping a five-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,900.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by technology stocks. Gold stocks were the only bright spot amid spiking bullion prices.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 39.70 points or 0.45 percent to 8,864.20, after hitting a low of 8,855.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 40.30 points or 0.44 percent to 9,186.30. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Friday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group is down almost 1 percent, Fortescue is losing 2.5 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.1 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 1 percent
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Santos is declining more than 1 percent. Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Zip are losing almost 1 percent each, while WiseTech Global is declining more than 4 percent and Xero is slipping almost 3 percen. Appen is edging up 0.4 percent.
Gold miners are higher. Northern Star Resources is adding 3.5 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 3 percent and Newmont is up more than 1 percent, while Genesis Minerals and Resolute Mining are advancing more than 4 percent each.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is edging down 0.5 percent and National Australia Bank is declining more than 1 percent, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are losing almost 1 percent each.
In other news, shares in Catalyst Metals are jumping almost 7 percent after reporting a new high-grade gold discovery below its Cinnamon Resource on the Plutonic Gold Belt in Western Australia.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.668 on Monday.
The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 falling to near the 53,400 level, with weakness across most sectors led by automakers and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 53,412.88, down 523.29 points or 0.97 percent, after hitting a low of 53,091.45 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is down almost 3 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is declining more than 2 percent, Screen Holdings is losing more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.2 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is losing more than 1 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are losing almost 2 percent each, while Canon is down more than 2 percent. Panasonic is gaining 1.5 percent.
Among the other major losers, Sumitomo Pharma is tumbling more than 8 percent, while Sumitomo Chemical and GS Yuasa are declining more than 5 percent each. Nissan Motor is down more than 4 percent, while Mazda Motor, Toyota Tsusho, Socionext, Kubota and Alps Alpine are losing almost 4 percent each. Sharp, Subaru, Olympus, Ebara, Hitachi Construction Machinery and Yokohama Rubber are slipping almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Aeon is advancing more than 4 percent, while Seven & I Holdings, Ajinomoto and Nichirei are gaining more than 3 percent each. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is adding almost 3 percent.
In economic news, the value of core machinery orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 11.0 percent on month in November, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - coming in at 883.9 billion yen. That was well shy of expectations for a decline of 5.2 percent following the 7.0 percent increase in October.
On a yearly basis, orders sank 6.4 percent - again missing forecasts for a gain of 4.9 percent following the 12.5 percent increase in the previous month. For the fourth quarter of 2025, orders are expected to rise 0.2 percent on quarter and 1.9 percent on year.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each, while South Korea and China are up 1.0 and 0.4 percent, respectively. Taiwan is relatively flat.
On Wall Street, stocks moved to the upside in early trading on Friday but quickly gave back ground and showed a lack of direction over the remainder of the trading session.
The major averages spent much of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly lower. The Dow dipped 83.11 points or 0.2 percent to 49,359.33, the Nasdaq slipped 14.63 points or 0.1 percent to 23,515.39 and the S&P 500 edged down 4.46 points or 0.1 percent to 6,940.01.
The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index slipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Friday as traders weighed the continuing risks after reports that the U.S. is consolidating its forces in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $0.40 or 0.68 percent at $59.59 per barrel.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
