Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Monday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders react negatively to the latest batch of stimulus measures from the Chinese government that left much to be desired. They also remain cautious ahead of the US Fed's upcoming interest rate decision later in the week. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

The Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by another 25 basis points on Wednesday, although traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about future rate cuts. There is much uncertainty regarding outlook for 2025 due to stubborn inflation.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 97.1 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by a quarter point next week but an 81.0 percent chance the central bank will then leave rates unchanged in late January.

The Australian stock market is currently trading modestly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous four sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying below the 8,300.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 25.30 points or 0.31 percent to 8,270.70, after hitting a low of 8,263.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 34.90 points or 0.41 percent to 8,515.40. Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is down 1.5 percent, Fortescue Metals is declining 2.5 percent and Mineral Resources is down more than 1 percent. Oil stocks are mixed. Santos and Origin Energy are edging up 0.1 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining almost 2 percent. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are losing more than 1 percent each, while Zip and Xero are edging up 0.2 percent each. Appen is tumbling more almost 4 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is down almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.5 percent, Newmont is slipping 3.5 percent, Resolute Mining is declining more than 5 percent and Gold Road Resources is slipping almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in Ventia Serviced are tumbling almost 8 percent after executives at the infrastructure giant were named in a case over alleged price-fixing brought by the ACCC last week.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in December, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 48.2. That's down from 49.4 in November and it moved further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The services index eased to 50.4 from 50.5 a month earlier, while the composite index slipped into contraction at 49.9 - down from 50.2 in November.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.636 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading slightly higher on Monday, reversing the losses in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to stay a tad above the 39,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, with gains in some index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,533.55, up 63.11 or 0.16 percent, after touching a high of 39,632.17 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.1 percent and Toyota is also edging up 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent and Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging down 0.5 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is losing almost 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic is gaining almost 4 percent, Canon is up almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 1 percent. Sony is flat.

Among other major gainers, Socionext is gaining more than 6 percent and Fujikura is adding almost 4 percent, while Fujikura, Isuzu Motors and Fuji Electric are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Yamato Holdings is losing almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the value of core machine orders in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 2.1 percent on month in October, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - coming in at 869.8 billion yen. That beat forecasts for an increase of 1.2 percent following the 0.7 percent decline in September.

On a yearly basis, core machine orders climbed 5.6 percent - again exceeding expectations for a gain or 0.7 percent after slumping 4.8 percent in the previous month. For the fourth quarter of 2024, core machine orders are seen higher by 5.7 percent on quarter and 8.0 percent on year.

The Jibun Bank revealed that the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in December, albeit at a slower pace, with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.5. That's up from 49.0 in November, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The report also said the services PMI improved to 51.4 in December from 50.5 in November.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 153 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 1.0 percent each, while Singapore is up 0.3 percent. Taiwan and South Korea are relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Friday after failing to sustain an early move to the upside. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

The Dow dipped 86.06 points or 0.2 percent to 43,828.06, closing lower for the seventh consecutive session. The S&P 500 edged down 0.16 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,051.09, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 23.88 points or 0.1 percent to 19,926.72.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed more modest moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Friday as supply worries resurfaced following additional sanctions on Iran and Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed up $1.27 or about 1.8 percent at $71.29 a barrel.