CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid the uncertainty about the ongoing war in the Middle East after U.S. President Donald Trump again extended the two-week ceasefire indefinitely until Tehran submitted a 'unified proposal' to end the war with the U.S. and Israel. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.
Trump on Tuesday extended the two-week U.S. ceasefire with Iran, saying the extension was warranted due to Tehran's government being 'seriously fractured.' He added that the ceasefire would be extended until Tehran submitted a proposal or discussions were concluded, and that the U.S. military would continue its blockade of Iranian ports.
Angered by the US move to capture an Iranian-flagged vessel, Iran called it a 'violation of ceasefire' and 'armed piracy.' Iranian state media indicated that Iran would not participate in any peace talks under threat.
Australian shares are trading significantly lower on Wednesday, after closing muted for three straight sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling well below the 8,900 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in gold miners and financial stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 85.40 points or 0.95 percent to 8,864.00, after hitting a low of 8,860.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 85.30 points or 0.93 percent to 9,091.80. Australian stocks ended little changed on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent, while Fortescue is down almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.4 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy, Beach energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.5 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent and Zip is declining almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent. Xero and Appen are flat.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is down more than 1 percent, while National Australia bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are slipping almost 3 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Newmont are declining almost 2 percent each. Genesis Minerals is losing more than 2 percent.
In other news, shares in Cochlear are plummeting almost 38 percent after the medical device maker announced a massive downgrade in expected full year earnings amid weakened trading conditions for cochlear implants in developed markets in recent months.
Shares in Treasury Wine are jumping more than 14 percent after wine company announced that it is transitioning to a new regional operating model to improve efficiency. It also flagged another big restructure with the Penfolds business to no longer operate as a stand-alone division.
Shares in Bank of Queensland are tumbling more than 9 percent after reporting downbeat results for the first half of 2026 on higher costs, margin pressure and restructuring, despite progress in its digital banking transformation.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.716 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading notably higher on Wednesday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 59,650 level, with gains in index heavyweights partially offset by weakness in automakers, exporters and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 59,653.56, up 304.39 points or 0.51 percent, after hitting a low of 59,708.21 earlier. Japanese stocks ended significantly higher Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging almost 9 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 2 percent and Toyota is declining more than 2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is advancing more than 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is declining almost 3 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining almost 1 percent, Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.4 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing more than 1 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 2 percent, Panasonic is down more than 1 percent, Canon is edging down 0.5 percent and Sony is losing almost 1 percent.
Among other major gainers, SHIFT is jumping more than 6 percent, BayCurrent is surging almost 5 percent, Kioxia Holdings is advancing more than 4 percent and Resonac Holdings is gaining almost 4 percent, while Nomura Research Institute, Sumco and Ibiden are adding almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sapporo Holdings are declining more than 4 percent each, while IHI, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Fuji Electric, Socionext and Konami Group are slipping almost 4 percent each. Yokohama Rubber, Toyota Tsusho, OKUMA, Mitsubishi Materials and Sumitomo are losing more than 3 percent each, while Toppan Holdings and Sojitz are down almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 666.977 billion yen in March, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That was well shy of forecasts for 1.106 trillion yen following the 44.3 billion yen surplus in February.
Exports were up 11.7 percent on year at 11.003 trillion yen, exceeding expectations for an increase of 11.0 percent and up from 4.0 percent in the previous month. Imports climbed an annual 10.9 percent to 10.336 trillion yen versus forecasts for a gain of 7.1 percent after rising 10.3 percent a month earlier.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 159 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia are higher by between 0.2 and 1.0 percent each. Taiwan is up 1.0 percent, while China and Indonesia are up 0.1 percent each.
On the Wall Street, stocks saw further downside over the course of the trading day on Tuesday following the modest pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages initially moved higher but slid firmly into negative territory as the day progressed.
The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow slid 293.18 points or 0.6 percent to 49,149.38, the Nasdaq declined 144.43 points or 0.6 percent to 24,529.96 and the S&P 500 fell 45.13 points or 0.6 percent to 7,064.01.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slid by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both slumped by 1.1 percent.
Crude oil prices continued to surge on Tuesday as the ongoing shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz kept supply disruption concerns alive. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $3.99 or 4.45 percent at $93.60 per barrel.
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