Asian markets are trading weak on Wednesday with investors pressing sales amid renewed worries about the economic situation in Europe following remarks by the Greek Prime Minister that Greece may leave the euro zone. The overnight flat close on Wall Street is also contributing to the subdued trend in the Asian region.
The Australian market is trading notably lower with investors pressing sales almost across the board amid lingering worries about the global economy.
Mirroring widespread selling, all the sectoral indices are currently down in negative territory. Mining, energy, financial, industrial and consumer discretionary stocks are mostly trading notably lower.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which declined to 4,067, is currently trading at 4,075, down 46 points or 1.1 percent from its previous close. The broader All Ordinaries index is down down 46.5 points or 1.1 percent at 4,127.
Among bank stocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac are down 0.3 to 0.8 percent, while ANZ Bank is trading lower by 1.4 percent. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Bank of Queensland are also trading notably lower.
Among top miners, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Newcrest Mining are down 1.2 to 2.5 percent, while Fortescue Metals is trading lower by over 4.5 percent.
In the energy sector, Santos is down 2.3 percent, Woodside Petroleum is trading 1.3 percent lower, Origin Energy is down marginally and Oil Search is trading flat, while Caltex Australia is up in positive territory with a gain of nearly a percent.
Myer Holdings is down nearly 6 percent following the company downgrading its forecast for full year net profit. Myer announced that total sales in the 13 weeks to April 28 was A$651.1 million, down 0.9 percent from the same period last year. The company now expects its net profit for the full fiscal 2012 year to be no more than 15 percent lower than the A$162.7 million it reported for fiscal 2011.
Perseus Mining is down with a loss of 5.6 percent. Boral, Whitehaven Coal, Alumina and Paladin Energy are down 4 to 4.8 percent.
QBE Insurance Group, Iluka Resources, Onesteel, Lynas Corp., Panaust and Graincorp are all trading lower by 3 to 3.6 percent.
Aquarius Platinum, Atlas Iron, Leighton Holdings, Incitec Pivot and Boart Longyear are also trading sharply lower.
The Conference Board's leading economic indicator for Australia increased 0.2 percent month-on-month in March after a flat reading in February. Rural goods exports and money supply made the largest contributions to the gain this month. Despite the latest gain, the index has not yet fully recovered from a series of declines through December. Its six-month growth has remained negative since November.
On the economic front, a leading indicator of Australia's economic activity rose again in March, but continued to remain below its long-term trend, a survey by Westpac and Melbourne Institute showed Wednesday.
The leading index, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity three to nine months into the future, was 2.2 percent in March, below its long term trend of 2.9 percent. This is the seventh consecutive month that the growth rate in the leading index has been below trend, Westpac's Chief Economist Bill Evans said.
The growth rate has picked up somewhat from the absolute low in November last year but the level in March does not encourage too much optimism that growth is likely to exceed trend any time soon, the economist noted. The annualized growth rate of the coincident index, which gives a pulse of current activity, was 3.1 percent, around its long term trend of 3 percent.
Meanwhile, the coincident index, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.4 percent in March. The rate of growth of this index has remained fairly stable so far.
The Conference Board said that despite some rising risks highlighted by the leading indicators in exports and housing sectors, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that moderate economic growth is likely to continue in the near term.
The Japanese market too drifted lower with investors indulging in fairly heavy selling at several counters following weak trade data and a downgrade of the country's foreign currency rating by Fitch Ratings.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 105.8 points or 1.2 percent at 8,623.5 at the end of the morning session.
TDK Corp, Tokyo Electric Power Nippon Electric Glass Tokyo Dome, Heiwa Real Estate and Aozora Bank are trading lower by 3 to 4.5 percent.
Showa Denko KK, Fast Retailing, Nissan Chemical Industries, Mitsumi Electric, Mitsubishi Estate, Shinsei Bank, Credit Saison and Japan Steel Work are all down 2 to 3 percent.
Olympus, Mizuho Financial, Mitsubishi Materials, Pacific Metals, Toho Zinc, Mitsubishi Motors, Softbank and Trend Micro are also trading notably lower.
Among the gainers on the Nikkei index, Sharp Corp and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are trading nearly 3 percent up. Japan Tobacco is gaining about 2.5 percent. Shares of JGC Corp are up nearly 2 percent on reports the company will invest around 30 billion yen in an Indonesia coal plant.
Nippon Yusen KK, Mitsubishi Paper Mills, Nippon Light Metal, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Chiyoda and Mitsui OSK Lines are among the other notable gainers.
In economic news, Japan saw a merchandise trade deficit of 520.27 billion yen in April, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That missed forecasts for a shortfall of 470.8 billion yen following the downwardly revised deficit of 84.5 billion yen in March.
Exports were up 7.9 percent on year, below expectations for an increase of 11.8 percent following the 5.9 percent increase in the previous month, while imports added an annual 8.0 percent versus forecasts for a gain of 10.1 percent but down from the revised 10.6 percent a month earlier.
The adjusted trade deficit came in at 480.2 billion yen, topping forecasts for a shortfall of 617.2 billion yen following the revised 616.6 billion yen deficit in March.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded around 80 yen in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 79.70 to the dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are trading notably lower with their benchmark indices losing 1.2 to 1.6 percent. Shanghai, Malaysia and New Zealand are down with modest losses. Markets across the region ended notably higher on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended flat on Tuesday after trading with a positive bias for a major part of the session. While the Nasdaq dipped 8.1 points or 0.3 percent to 2,839.1 and the Dow edged down 1.7 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 12,502.8, the S&P 500 crept up 0.6 points or 0.1 percent to 1,316.6.
Major European markets ended notably higher on Tuesday. While the German DAX index moved up 1.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the French CAC 40 index both ended stronger by 1.9 percent.
U.S. crude oil futures drifted lower on Tuesday, due largely to demand growth concerns and a strong dollar. Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for June delivery, dropped $0.91 or 1.0 percent to close at $91.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.