CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, hurt by tumbling technology stocks which mirrored their peers on the tech-heavy Nasdaq amid concerns about excessive levels of investment across the AI space. Traders also remain concerned about the uncertainty in the global tariff space and the geopolitical conflict between the United States and Iran. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.
Traders were also looking ahead to the release of report on US producer price inflation in the month of January. While not as closely watched as consumer price inflation data, the producer price inflation report could impact the outlook for interest rates.
The Australian stock market is trading slightly lower in choppy trading on Friday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 9,200 level, with strong gains in gold miners and technology as well as a mixed performance in most other sectors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 8.40 points or 0.09 percent to 9,166.90, after hitting a low of 9,158.40 and a high of 9,195.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 2.60 points or 0.03 percent to 9,406.10. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Thursday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are losing almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue and Mineral Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are adding more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent. Santos is edging down 0.1 percent.
Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is losing more than 2 percent and Zip is soaring almost 8 percent, while Appen is up almost 1 percent and Xero is adding more than 1 percent. Afterpay-owner Block is skyrocketing more than 26 percent after it decided to cut 4000 of its 10,000 employees.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 2 percent.
Gold miners are higher. Evolution Mining is advancing almost 3 percent and Genesis Minerals is rising almost 4 percent, while Resolute Mining, Northern Star Resources and Newmont are adding almost 2 percent each.
In other news, shares in Coles Group are tumbling more than 9 percent after the supermarket giant posted downbeat half-yearly results, despite higher sales and profit.
Shares in Bapcor are plummeting almost 48 percent after the auto parts company reported downbeat results for the first half and announced a highly discounted A$200 equity raising.
In economic news, overall private sector credit in Australia was up 0.5 percent on month on January, the Reserve Bank of Australia said on Friday - easing from 0.8 percent in December. On a yearly basis, overall credit jumped 7.7 percent. Broad money was up 0.6 percent on month and 7.4 percent on year.
Individually, housing credit added 0.6 percent on month and 7.0 percent on year, while personal credit gained 0.2 percent on month and 4.1 percent on year and business credit rose 0.5 percent on month and 9.4 percent on year.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.711 on Friday.
The Japanese market is trading modestly lower on Friday, snapping a three-session winning streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 58,550 level, with tumbling technology stocks and a mixed performance in most other sectors.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 58,528.09, down 225.30 points or 0.38 percent, after hitting a low of 58,130.57 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing almost 1 percent, while Honda is gaining almost 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling almost 5 percent, Screen Holdings is declining almost 6 percent and Tokyo Electron is losing almost 4 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.4 percent.
Among the major exporters, Sony is surging almost 7 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.4 percent, while Canon is edging down 0.3 percent. Panasonic is flat.
Among other major losers, Furukawa Electric is tumbling more than 6 percent, while Fujikura and Disco are losing more than 5 percent each. Hoya is slipping almost 4 percent, while Lasertec and Sumitomo Electric Industries are declining almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Dowa Holdings is soaring almost 8 percent and M3 is jumping more than 6 percent, while BayCurrent and Mitsubishi Materials are surging almost 6 percent each. Sumitomo Metal Mining is advancing more than 5 percent, while Konami Group and Sumco are gaining almost 5 percent each. JGC Holdings is up more than 4 percent, while Nomura Research Institute, Taisei and Nintendo are adding almost 4 percent each. NEC is rising more than 3 percent, while Shiseido and AGC are gaining almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, the value of retail sales spiked 1.8 percent on year in January, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday - coming in at 12.954 trillion yen. That beat expectations for an increase of 0.1 percent following the 0.9 percent decline in December. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales jumped 4.1 percent.
The METI also said industrial production in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 2.2 percent on month in January. That was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 5.5 percent following the 0.1 percent contraction in December. On a yearly basis, production was up 2.2 percent. Upon the release of the data, the METI maintained its assessment of industrial production, saying that it continues to fluctuate indecisively.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 155 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand and Hong Kong are up 0.1 and 0.3 percent, respectively. Malaysia and Indonesia are down 0.9 and 0.3 percent, respectively. South Korea is tumbling 1.5 percent. China and Singapore are relatively flat. Taiwan is closed for Peace Memorial Day.
On Wall Street, stocks gave back some ground during trading on Thursday after moving sharply higher over the two previous sessions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a significant move to the downside, although the Dow managed to end the day slightly higher.
The Nasdaq climbed well off its early lows but still slumped 273.69 points or 1.2 percent to 22,878.38. The S&P 500 also fell 37.27 points or 0.5 percent to 6,908.86, but the narrower Dow inched up 17.05 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 49,499.20.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index increased by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices saw early strength Thursday on Mideast tensions but couldn't hold the gains after progress was reported in talks between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was down by $0.11 or 0.2 percent at $65.31 barrel.
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