Asian Markets Trade Mixed

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as fears about a recession due to aggressive monetary tightening by central banks to rein in inflation rendered the mood bearish. Analysts expect the US Fed will likely raise rates by 100 basis points later this month, with inflation soaring to a 41-year high. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Friday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 6,600 level, following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street, dragged by weakness in materials and energy stocks amid tumbling commodity prices on fears of demand slowdown from top importer China.

Financial stocks are also weak. The increasing COVID-19 cases across the country is also weighing on market sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 61.30 points or 0.92 percent to 6,589.30, after hitting a low of 6,537.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 65.00 points or 0.95 percent to 6,783.60. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is losing more than 3 percent, BHP Group is down almost 4 percent, OZ Minerals is sliding more than 4 percent, Mineral Resources is declining almost 5 percent and Fortescue Metals is slipping more than 5 percent.

Oil stocks are lower. Origin Energy, Santos and Woodside Energy are losing more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy is declining more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is gaining more than 4 percent and Zip is adding more than 2 percent, while Appen is losing more than 4 percent, Xero is down more than 1 percent and Afterpay owner Block is slipping almost 4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is down more than 1 percent and ANZ Banking is declining more than 1 percent.