CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are a sea of red on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious and keep an eye on developments in the Middle East as tensions along the Strait of Hormuz persist as supply disruption threats reappear on fresh attack on a cargo ship with a projectile hitting a cargo ship near Oman. Meanwhile, U.S. inflation numbers moderated U.S. Fed's interest rate hike concerns. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.
The attack on the ship revived security concerns and heightened fears that Iran could exert greater control over traffic in the key waterway, while several commercial ships turned back. Soon after the signing of the MoU, Iran had reopened the critical Strait of Hormuz leading to active shipping traffic.
After last Wednesday's signing of MoU between the U.S. and Iran, which offered both countries a 60-day period for peace talks, a high-level team comprising negotiators from both nations met in Switzerland to discuss a framework for future negotiations.
Washington and Tehran continue to negotiate a permanent agreement to end the conflict, though talks on key issues such as nuclear policy are expected to remain prolonged
The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Friday, reversing some of the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,750 level, with gains in mining and energy stocks partially offset weakness in technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 16.80 points or 0.19 percent to 8,765.50, after touching a high of 8,774.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 13.10 points or 0.15 percent to 8,964.70. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Thursday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto is adding more than 2 percent, while Mineral Resources, Fortescue and BHP Group are gaining more than 1 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 2 percent, Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent, Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Santos is up more than 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block and Zip are losing almost 1 percent each, while WiseTech Global is declining almost 4 percent, Appen is slipping more than 2 percent and Xero is down more than 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent. Westpac is flat.
Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is up almost 2 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining more than 2 percent, Genesis Minerals is rising more than 3 percent, Newmont is advancing almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is jumping almost 4 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.688 on Friday.
The Japanese market is trading sharply lower on Friday, reversing the sharp gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling 3.8 percent to near the 69,600 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset gains in automakers and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 69,602.72, down 2,763.62 points or 3.82 percent, after hitting a low of 69,488.82 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling almost 12 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent and Honda is also adding more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling almost 8 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are losing more than 1 percent each.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are adding more than 1 percent each.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining almost 2 percent and Canon is edging up 0.1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 1 percent and Sony is losing almost 1 percent.
Among other major losers, Taiyo Yuden is tumbling almost 8 percent, while Disco, Mitsui Kinzoku and TDK is sliding more than 5 percent each. Furukawa Electric is slipping more than 4 percent, while Lasertec, Kioxia Holdings, Tokyo Electric Power, Nissan Motor, Murata Manufacturing and Socionext are declining almost 4 percent each. Konica Minolta and Trend Micro are slipping more than 3 percent each.
Conversely, Renesas Electronics is jumping more than 8 percent, Kao is gaining more than 4 percent and Sumco is adding almost 3 percent.
In economic news, core consumer prices in Tokyo's central wards rose 1.6 percent on year in June 2026, accelerating from 1.3 percent in the previous month and in line with market expectations. It was the first acceleration since September last year and marked the fastest increase in three months. However, inflation remained below the Bank of Japan's 2% target for a fifth consecutive month.
Meanwhile, CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food and energy costs and is seen by the BoJ as a better gauge of underlying inflation, increased 1.9 percent on year, up from 1.6 percent in May.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 161 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is tumbling 5.6 percent Singapore is down 0.9 percent, while New Zealand and Malaysia are down 0.1 percent each. China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 1.7 and 2.3 percent.
On Wall Street, stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday with investors digesting a slew of crucial economic data and some corporate news, including earnings update from Micron. The focus is also on reports about the ongoing U.S.-Iran peace efforts.
The Dow added 71.72 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 51,920.62, while the NASDAQ slumped 118.03 points or 0.46 percent to end at 25,358.60 and the S&P 500 dipped 0.73 points or 0.01 percent to close at 7,357.49.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.65 percent, Germany's DAX moved up 1.03 percent and France's CAC 40 ended 0.55 percent higher.
Crude oil prices jumped on Thursday as supply disruption threats reappeared after a projectile hit a cargo ship near Oman across the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $1.49 or 2.12 percent at $71.83 per barrel.
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