Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative from Wall Street overnight, amid the ongoing concerns about rising global trade tensions, particularly between the U.S. and China. Traders also look to cash on the steep spike on Thursday after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on new "reciprocal tariffs." Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

The uncertainty about what will happen between now and the end of the 90-day pause is also weighing on the markets

Trump paused most of his sweeping reciprocal tariffs for 90 days to allow more time for negotiations but raised the levies on China to 125 percent, further escalating a high-stakes confrontation between the world's two largest economies.

The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Friday, reversing some of the sharp gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling more than 2 percent to below the 7,550 level, with weakness across most sectors led by iron ore miners and technology stocks. Gold stocks were the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 172.60 points or 2.24 percent to 7,537.00, after hitting a low of 7,524.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 171.10 points or 2.16 percent to 7,742.80. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are losing almost 3 percent each, while Mineral Resources is tumbling more than 6 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is losing more than 2 percent and Beach energy is declining almost 6 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are declining almost 4 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block and Zip are losing almost 6 percent each, while WiseTech Global is slipping more than 3 percent, Appen is declining almost 4 percent and Xero is down more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are also losing more than 3 percent each. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Newmont is adding 3.5 percent and Resolute Mining is up more than 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.625 on Friday.

Reversing the sharp gains in the previous session, the Japanese market is sharply lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is tumbling 4.2 percent to well below the 33,200 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights, automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 33,148.45, down 1,460.55 points or 4.22 percent, after hitting a low of 32,626.58 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 6 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 5 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 7 percent and Honda is declining more than 6 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling more than 8 percent, Tokyo Electron is declining more than 4 percent and Screen Holdings is losing more than 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is slipping almost 7 percent, Mizuho Financial is tumbling almost 8 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining more than 6 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is tumbling almost 10 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 5 percent, Panasonic is slipping more than 7 percent and Canon is declining almost 6 percent.

Among other major losers, Furukawa Electric, Fanuc, T&D Holdings and Resona Holdings are tumbling more than 8 percent each, while JTEKT, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Concordia Financial, Nissan Motor, Yokohama Rubber, TDK, Nitto Denko and Tokio Marine are sliding almost 8 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 143 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia are slipping between 1.2 and 2.1 percent each, while China, Hong Kong and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. Taiwan is bucking the trend and is up 0.4 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside during trading on Thursday following an historic rally over the course of Wednesday's session. The major averages all posted steep losses but remain well off their recent lows.

The major averages ended the day off their worst levels but still sharply lower. The Nasdaq plunged 737.66 points or 4.3 percent to 16,387.31, the S&P 500 tumbled 188.85 points or 3.5 percent to 5,268.05 and the Dow slumped 1,014.79 points or 2.5 percent to 39,593.66.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed substantial moves back to the upside on the day. The German DAX also soared by 4.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 3.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index surged by 3.0 percent.

Crude oil prices showed a significant move back to the downside during trading on Thursday following the substantial rebound seen over the course of the previous session, Crude for May delivery plunged $2.07 or 3.3 percent to $60.28 a barrel.