CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian markets are mostly lower on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with markets in Japan on return after a holiday and South Korea tumbling amid anxiety over AI industry and unresolved geopolitical risks. Traders also remain cautious ahead to the U.S. midterm election results. Rising expectations on a possible settlement between the U.S. and Iran is aiding market sentiment, with crude oil prices easing. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.
U.S. forces conducted secret attacks on Iran's Qeshm Island yesterday. The strikes targeted a newly constructed anti-aircraft facility near the Strait of Hormuz. The attacks could be a measure to stop Iran from attacking commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that renewed fighting will benefit no one, and reiterated that Iran wishes to solve the dispute through negotiations.
Qatar said it saw hope for an interim deal as both the U.S. and Iran evaluate new proposals put forward by mediators, despite fresh U.S. strikes and continued threats to shipping through Hormuz.
However, Iran's national security chief indicated in a social media post that Washington's response to Iran's demands for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming peace talks was insufficient.
Australian shares are trading notably lower on Wednesday, reversing the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 8,850 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in mining and financial stocks partially offset by gains in energy and technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 44.30 points or 0.50 percent to 8,842.50, after hitting a low of 8,820.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 44.80 points or 0.50 percent to 8,964.10. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue are edging down 0.2 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy, Beach energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while and Origin Energy is adding almost 2 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is surging almost 7 percent on upbeat quarterly results, while Appen and WiseTech Global are gaining almost 2 percent each. Zip and Xero are edging down 0.3 percent each.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are losing more than 1 percent each, while Westpac and National Australia bank are down almost 1 percent each.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is edging up 0.1 percent and Genesis Minerals is gaining more than 1 percent, while Resolute Mining is losing more than 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.5 percent. Newmont is flat.
In economic news, the services sector in Australia fell into contraction territory in October, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 48.5. That's down from 51.9 in September, and it slips beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite index fell to 48.2 in October from 51.3 in September.
Meanwhile, Australian household spending rose 0.6 percent on month in September 2026, rebounding from a downwardly revised 0.1 percent decline in the prior month and marking its seventh monthly increase this year. On an annual basis, household spending growth accelerated to 6.8 percent from 6.5 percent in August.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.696 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is tumbling 3.6 percent to below the 60,850 level, with weakness across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 60,835.36, down 2,246.50 points or 3.56 percent, after hitting a low of 60,799.11 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly lower on Monday ahead of the holiday on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling almost 8 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is declining almost 2 percent and Toyota is losing more than 2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling almost 7 percent, Tokyo Electron is slipping almost 6 percent and Screen Holdings is declining more than 5 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are losing more than 3 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 3 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.4 percent, Canon is losing almost 1 percent and Panasonic is tumbling almost 8 percent, while Sony is edging up 0.1 percent.
Among other major losers, Mitsui Chemicals and Taiyo Yuden are plunging more than 9 percent each, while Kioxia Holdings and Kyocera are tumbling more than 7 percent each. Socionext, Disco and Furukawa Electric are slipping almost 6 percent each, while Fujikura is declining more than 5 percent, while Sumitomo Electric Industries and Kokusai Electric are sliding almost 5 percent. JX Advanced Metals, Mitsui Kinzoku, Resonac Holdings and Renesas Electronics are losing more than 4 percent each.
Conversely, Yamato Holdings is soaring almost 14 percent, Yamaha is surging more than 5 percent, Japan Airlines is jumping almost 5 percent, Capcom is advancing more than 4 percent and Konami Group is gaining almost 4 percent, while NEXON and Nitto Denko are adding more than 3 percent each. Kirin Holdings, LY, ZOZO, Nisshin Seifun, ANA Holdings, Nintendo and Central Japan Railway are all up almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, the monetary base in Japan was down 13.6 percent on year in October, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday - coming in at 532.571 trillion yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 14.0 percent following the 15.2 percent drop in September.
Banknotes in circulation fell 2.3 percent, while coins in circulation sank 1.1 percent and current account balances slumped 16.4 percent - including a 15.2 percent fall in reserve balances. The adjusted monetary base was up 4.9 percent on year at 533.392 trillion yen.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore and South Korea are down 1.3 and 2.0 percent, respectively. China, Hong Kong, Malaysia Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each. New Zealand is bucking the trend and is up 0.3 percent.
On Wall Street, stock indexes once again moved in opposite directions during trading on Tuesday after turning mixed over the course of the previous session. While the Nasdaq and S&P 500 rebounded following Monday's significant downturn, the narrower Dow moved back to the downside.
The Nasdaq advanced 207.65 points or 0.8 percent to 25,372.01 and the S&P 500 rose 27.52 points or 0.4 percent to 7,568.92, but the Dow fell 197.26 points or 0.4 percent to 51,786.72.
Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped 1.1 percent, the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil prices turned lower on Tuesday amid rising expectations on a possible settlement between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.52 or 0.54 percent at $95.94 per barrel.
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