CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are tumbling on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders remain concerned over the inflationary impact of the prolonged conflict in the Middle East as it entered the fifth day, with U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting the war may last four to five weeks but could 'go far longer than that.' Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.
The price of crude oil has continued to spike in response to the conflict, raising worries the jump in prices will lead to higher inflation. Supply concerns were also worsened by the attacks on several oil refineries, including Saudi Aramco's oil facility in Ras Tanura, as well as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.
As the conflict threatens global fuel trade, Trump said the U.S. Navy 'will begin escorting' oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway, if necessary.
Australian shares are trading sharply lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to near the 8,900 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by gold miners and financial stocks as concerns over the inflationary impact of the Middle East conflict weighed on market sentiment.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 168.50 points or 1.86 percent to 8,908.80, after hitting a low of 8,881.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 168.70 points or 1.82 percent to 9,128.50. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is declining more than 4 percent, Rio Tinto is losing almost 2 percent and Fortescue is slipping almost 3 percent, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.5 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Origin Energy are losing more than 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.4 percent and Beach energy is down almost 1 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, Zip is declining more than 2 percent and Appen is edging down 0.3 percent, while Xero is advancing almost 3 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is losing almost 2 percent, while National Australia bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are down almost 1 percent each.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is tumbling more than 6 percent, Resolute Mining is declining almost 6 percent, Northern Star Resources is slipping more than 5 percent, Newmont is sliding almost 7 percent and Genesis Minerals is plunging almost 8 percent.
In economic news, Australia's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.7 percent and was up from 0.4 percent in the three months prior. On a yearly basis, GDP rallied 2.6 percent - again beating expectations for 2.1 percent, which would have been steady from the previous quarter.
Nominal GDP rose 1.8 percent. The GDP implicit price deflator (IPD) rose 1.0 percent, reflecting a rise in the domestic final demand deflator (+0.8 percent) alongside a rise in the terms of trade (+0.4 percent).
Meanwhile, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in February, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday, with a services PMI score of 52.8. That's down from 56.3 in January, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite index slipped to 52.4 in February from 55.7 in January.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.701 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Wednesday, extending the sharp losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is tumbling 3.9 percent to below the 54,100 level, with weakness in across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 54,090.11, down 2,188.94 points or 3.89 percent, after hitting a low of 54,063.70 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling almost 7 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is declining almost 5 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are tumbling almost 5 percent each, while Screen Holdings is slipping almost 6 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is slipping more than 7 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are declining more than 5 percent each.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is slipping more than 4 percent, Canon is down more than 2 percent and Panasonic is declining almost 4 percent, while Sony is gaining almost 1 percent.
Among other major losers, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Mitsui Kinzoku are plummeting more than 8 percent each, while ENEOS and Sojitz are plunging more than 7 percent each. IHI, Nippon Electric Glass, Marubeni, Dowa Holdings and Mitsubishi Materials are tumbling almost 7 percent each. Mitsui & Co., NSK, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, JGC Holdings and Toyota Tsusho are slipping almost 7 percent each, while Sumitomo Heavy Industries is declining almost 6 percent.
Conversely, BayCurrent is gaining almost 5 percent, while Trend Micro and Toho are advancing almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, the services sector in Japan continued to expand in February, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 53.8. That's up from 53.7 in January, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite index improved to 53.9 in February from 53.1 in January.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is tumbling 8.1 percent, while New Zealand, China and Malaysia are lower by between 0.3 and 0.9 percent each. Taiwan is slipping 3.6 percent, while Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore are down 2 percent each.
On the Wall Street, stocks once again staged a recovery attempt after another sell-off at the start of trading on Tuesday, but did have as much success as Monday and still ended the day notably lower. While the major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, they remained firmly in negative territory.
The Dow ended the day down 403.51 points or 0.8 percent at 48,502.27 after plummeting by more than 1,200 points, the Nasdaq slumped 232.17 points or 1.0 percent to 22,516.69 and the S&P 500 slid 64.99 points or 0.9 percent to 6,816.63.
The major European markets all also showed substantial moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index dove by 3.5 percent, the German DAX Index plummeted by 3.4 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 2.8 percent.
Crude oil prices continued to spike in response to the conflict, raising worries the jump in prices will lead to higher inflation. Supply concerns were also worsened by the attacks on several oil refineries, including Saudi Aramco's oil facility in Ras Tanura. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $3.35 or 4.7 percent to $74.58 a barrel.
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