CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, on a renewed spike in crude oil prices amid ongoing attacks on tankers in the Middle East and concerns about hurricane-related production disruption in the Gulf of Mexico. Reports suggest that US President Donald Trump and his national security team have discussed possibly resuming large-scale U.S. military operations in Iran in the coming weeks. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.
The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Friday, snapping a four-session losing streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,700 level, with gains in energy and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 41.40 points or 0.48 percent to 8,702.30, after touching a high of 8,708.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 39.30 points or 0.45 percent to 8,862.50. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Thursday.
Among major miners, Mineral Resources and BHP Group are losing almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue is declining more than 2 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.4 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy, Santos and Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent
Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, Zip is adding almost 3 percent and Appen is slipping more than 2 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are gaining almost 2 percent each.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac are gaining more than 1 percent each, while and ANZ Banking is adding almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.3 percent, Genesis Minerals is down more than 1 percent, Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is declining almost 2 percent, while Newmont is gaining almost 2 percent.
In other news, shares in Electro Optic Systems are surging almost 6 percent after the anti-drone technology company announced its largest-ever counter-drone contract worth $700 million with a Gulf state member.
Shares in Maas Group are in a trading halt after following the news that Firmus has pulled its IPO. Maas holds a 3.2 percent stake in Maas.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.697 on Friday.
The Japanese market is trading notably lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 68,550 level, with weakness in index heavyweights, technology and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 68,512.30, down 529.81 points or 0.77 percent, after hitting a low of 68,150.02 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining more than 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is flat and Honda is gaining more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is down almost 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.4 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is declining more than 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.1 percent and Panasonic is losing almost 3 percent, while Sony is gaining almost 2 percent and Canon is adding almost 1 percent.
Among other major losers, Furukawa Electric slipping almost 5 percent, while Murata Manufacturing, Renesas Electronics, Kioxia Holdings and Sumco are declining more than 4 percent each. Asahi Kasei, Socionext, Mitsui Kinzoku and Fujikura are losing more than 3 percent each, while Sumitomo Electric Industries, Mitsui Chemicals, Terumo and Ibiden are down almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Nomura Research Institute is jumping almost 5 percent, Trend Micro is surging more than 4 percent and BayCurrent is gaining almost 4 percent, while SHIFT, Japan Tobacco, Nitto Denko and Recruit Holdings are advancing more than 3 percent each. Nintendo, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and M3 are adding almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, Japan's household spending fell 3.1 percent on year in August 2026, easing from July's decline and beating market expectations of a 3.6 percent drop. However, it marked the ninth straight month of decline.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, household spending edged up 0.1 percent, extending its gains for a second consecutive month but slowing sharply from July and falling short of estimates for a 0.5 percent increase.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 1.1 percent, while New Zealand, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.2 percent each. China and Singapore are down 1.2 and 0.5 percent, respectively. South Korea is closed for Hangeul Proclamation Day and Taiwan is closed for National Day.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday, adding to the modest losses posted in the previous session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a notable move to the downside, pulling back further off the record closing high set on Tuesday.
The Nasdaq ended the day off its lows of the session but still slumped 345.35 points or 1.3 percent to 27,193.34. The S&P 500 also fell 36.41 points or 0.5 percent to 7,765.36, although the narrower Dow bucked the downtrend and inched up 51.77 points or 0.1 percent to 51,231.64.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped by 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil price gave back some ground in mid-day trading moved back to the upside since then. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up by $3.65 or 4.1 percent at $91.93 a barrel after spiking by as much as $4.92 or 5.6 percent to a high of $93.20 a barrel.
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