CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are tumbling on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders remain cautious and concerned about the fallout of the intensifying conflict in the Middle East in to the tenth day . Israel intensified air strikes on Iran, while the U.S. said its attacks on Iran are going to 'surge dramatically.' Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.
Crude oil has skyrocketed over the past week as the U.S.-Iran conflict spreads across the Middle East and swelled outwards to Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Azerbaijan, leading to concerns about a global energy crisis as well as the outlook for trade, prices and investment.
The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is tumbling more than 4 percent to below the 8,500.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by financial, mining and technology stocks amid concerns about the military conflict in the Middle-East. Energy stocks are the only bright spot amid spiking crude oil prices.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 374.00 points or 4.23 percent to 8,477.00, after hitting a low of 8,457.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 385.10 points or 4.24 percent to 8,700.00. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Friday.
Among the major miners, Mineral Resources is tumbling almost 6 percent, Rio Tinto is declining more than 5 percent, Fortescue is losing more than 3 percent and BHP Group is sliding more than 6 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 2 percent, Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Santos is advancing almost 3 percent, while Origin Energy is losing almost 2 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are declining more than 5 percent each, while WiseTech Global is losing more than 4 percent, Appen is slipping more than 7 percent and Zip is tumbling almost 10 percent.
Gold miners are lower. Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are losing more than 6 percent each, while Resolute Mining is slipping almost 8 percent, Newmont is down more than 3 percent and Genesis Minerals is declining more than 4 percent.
Among the big four banks, Westpac and ANZ Banking are declining more than 4 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are losing almost 4 percent each.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.698 on Monday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Monday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 plunging 7 percent to below the 51,750 level, with strong losses across most sectors led by exporters, technology and financial stocks amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 51,740.46, down 3,880.38 points or 6.98 percent, after hitting a low of 51,407.66 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling more than 10 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is declining almost 5 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is plunging more than 11 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are sliding more than 9 percent each.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are plunging almost 7 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is tumbling more than 8 percent.
The major exporters are lower. Mitsubishi Electric is tumbling almost 7 percent, Canon is down more than 2 percent, Sony is sliding almost 6 percent and Panasonic is sliding almost 8 percent.
Among the other major losers, Furukawa Electric is plummeting almost 15 percent and Resonac Holdings is plunging almost 13 percent, while Fujikura, Mitsui Kinzoku, Ibiden and Sumitomo Electric Industries are tumbling more than 10 percent each. Renesas Electronics is sliding almost 10 percent, while Tokuyama, Lasertec, Murata Manufacturing, Ebara and Fuji Electric are slipping more than 9 percent each.
Conversely, there are no other major gainers.
In economic news, Japan posted a current account surplus of 941.6 billion yen in January, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. That was shy of expectations for a surplus of 960 billion yen following the 729 billion yen surplus in December.
Imports were down 7.7 percent on year to 9.644 trillion yen and exports jumped an annual 20.3 percent to 9.044 trillion yen for a trade deficit of 600.4 billion yen. The capital account had a shortfall of 11.0 billion, while the financial account had a deficit of 506.5 billion yen.
Meanwhile, the value of overall bank lending in Japan was up 4.5 percent on year in February, the Bank of Japan said on Monday - coming in at 663.823 trillion yen. That was above expectations for an increase of 4.4 percent, which would have been unchanged from the January reading following a downward revision from 4.5 percent.
Excluding trusts, bank lending rose 4.9 percent on year to 584.664 trillion yen, while lending from trusts rose 1.5 percent to 79.158 trillion yen. Lending from foreign banks surged an annual 32.1 percent to 6.469 trillion yen.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 158 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are tumbling 8.0 and 5.5 percent, respectively. New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 3.0 and 4.6 percent each, while China is down 1.3 percent.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Friday, adding to the losses posted in the previous session. With the steep losses on the day, the Dow and the Nasdaq dropped to their lowest closing levels in over three months and the S&P 500 hit a two-month closing low.
The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Nasdaq plunged 361.31 points or 1.6 percent to 22,387.68, the S&P 500 tumbled 90.69 points or 1.3 percent to 6,740.02 and the Dow slumped 453.19 points or 1.0 percent to 47,501.55.
The major European markets have all also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index declined by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.7 percent.
Crude oil prices surged on Friday after Qatar warned of a production halt in the gulf as the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has heavily disrupted energy supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $9.88 or 12.20 percent at $90.89 per barrel.
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