Asian stock markets largely declined on Thursday, influenced by mixed signals from Wall Street overnight. Investors remained concerned about the potential inflationary effects and interest rate implications of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's suggested tariffs. Concurrently, the U.S. dollar gained strength against major regional currencies. On Wednesday, Asian markets mostly closed lower.
There's ongoing uncertainty regarding the probability of future rate cuts, as U.S. consumer price inflation data aligned with forecasts. According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, an 82.3% chance exists for another quarter-point rate reduction in December, but a 60.2% likelihood indicates that rates might remain steady in January.
Contrarily, the Australian stock market saw slight gains on Thursday, breaking a three-day losing streak. The S&P/ASX 200 index exceeded the 8,200 mark, buoyed by strength in technology, energy, and financial sectors but tempered by a dip in mining stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 12.90 points, or 0.16%, to 8,206.30, having reached a high of 8,239.40 earlier. The All Ordinaries Index climbed 8.00 points, or 0.10%, to 8,458.90. The Australian market had closed notably lower on Wednesday.
In the mining sector, BHP Group saw a slight decline of 0.1%, Fortescue Metals fell over 1%, while Rio Tinto gained over 1% and Mineral Resources edged up 0.5%.
Oil stocks mostly advanced, with Beach Energy up 0.4%, and Woodside Energy, Origin Energy, and Santos each rising close to 1%.
In technology, Block, the owner of Afterpay, rose nearly 2%, Appen added over 1%, and Xero surged 6.5%, though WiseTech Global and Zip fell by nearly 1% each.
Among Australia's major banks, Commonwealth Bank increased by almost 2%, with National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking, and Westpac all exceeding 1% gains. In the gold mining sector, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources declined by over 1% each, while Resolute Mining dropped 3.5%, Northern Star Resources fell over 2%, and Newmont slipped 0.4%.
Economic data revealed Australia's unemployment rate held steady at a seasonally adjusted 4.1% in October, as per the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The job market added 15,900 positions, missing expectations for a 25,200 increase after September's addition of 64,100 jobs.
Full-time employment rose by 9,700 to 10,037,700 people, while part-time employment increased by 6,200 to 4,499,800. The participation rate was slightly below expectations at 67.1%, while monthly hours worked increased to 1.972 billion.
In currency trading, the Australian dollar was valued at $0.647 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Japan's stock market showed minor gains on Thursday, recovering slightly from earlier declines and following mixed Wall Street cues. The Nikkei 225 index remained above the 38,700 threshold, supported by gains in exporters, automakers, and financial stocks, though tempered by weakness in key technology stocks.
The Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,761.02, marking an increase of 39.36 points or 0.10%, after peaking at 39,084.44 and dipping to 38,621.88 earlier. Japanese stocks had sharply fallen on Wednesday.
Key market mover SoftBank Group shed over 2%, whereas Fast Retailing, operator of Uniqlo, edged up 0.3%. In the automotive segment, Toyota saw a 1.5% increase, with Honda adding over 1%.
In the technology sector, Tokyo Electron dropped more than 3%, Advantest declined over 1%, and Screen Holdings decreased 0.4%.
Banking stocks saw Mizuho Financial advancing nearly 1%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial edging up 0.1%, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial gaining over 1%.
Among major exporters, Canon added almost 2%, Sony rose nearly 1%, Mitsubishi Electric advanced 2.5%, and Panasonic increased close to 3%.
Notable losers included Kansai Electric Power, plunging over 16%, Toppan Holdings, sliding over 6%, Sumitomo Pharma, declining over 5%, Kuraray, dropping almost 5%, and Lasertec, losing more than 4%. Isetan Mitsukoshi and Dai Nippon Printing fell nearly 4% each, while Sumco, JGC Holdings, Seven & I Holdings each declined over 3%, and ZOZO fell almost 3%.Mercari has experienced a significant surge, climbing over 7%, and Kubota is also witnessing substantial growth with a more than 6% increase. Similarly, Sumitomo Electric Industries and Sapporo Holdings have each gained over 5%. Furukawa Electric, Fanuc, and Fujitsu are advancing with nearly 4% gains. Meanwhile, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsui & Co., and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are seeing rises exceeding 3% each, with Itochu, Mazda Motor, and Mitsubishi Chemical Group also up by nearly 3% each.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar is currently positioned in the upper range of 155 yen as of Thursday.
Across Asia, markets like China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Indonesia are experiencing declines ranging between 0.1% and 1.0%. In contrast, New Zealand and South Korea have seen slight increases, with gains of 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively. On Wall Street, Wednesday's trading session was characterized by fluctuations, with major averages oscillating around the unchanged line after the prior session's pullback.
By the end of the trading day, major averages were slightly mixed. The Nasdaq, which focuses on technology stocks, declined by 50.66 points, equating to a 0.3% decrease to 19,230.74. The S&P 500 inched up by 1.39 points, less than 0.1%, to reach 5,985.38, while the Dow saw a modest rise of 47.21 points or 0.1%, closing at 43,958.19.
European markets also concluded the day with mixed results. The UK's FTSE 100 Index recorded a slight increase of 0.1%, while both the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index saw minor declines, falling by 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.
In the commodities sector, crude oil prices experienced an uptick on Wednesday, aided by short covering following recent significant losses, alongside pressure from a strong dollar. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December saw an increase of $0.31 or 0.46%, closing at $68.43 per barrel.