Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Monday following the negative cues from Wall Street and European markets as well as the tumble in crude oil prices Friday. Investors are in a cautious mode ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting later this week.
The Australian market is declining following the negative cues from Wall Street and a slump in commodity prices.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 40.30 points or 0.70 percent to 5,682.50, off a low of 5,671.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 37.90 points or 0.66 percent to 5733.30.
In the mining space, BHP Billion is down almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto is losing more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is lower by more than 2 percent.
Among oil stocks, Oil Search is losing more than 1 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Santos are down almost 2 percent each.
Among banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are lower in a range of 0.9 percent to 1.2 percent.
Westpac has entered into exclusive talks with property giant Charter Hall Group to sell its infrastructure business Hastings Management.
Bucking the trend, gold miner Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are advancing almost 1 percent.
Newcrest Mining reported a 2.4 percent decline in its full-year gold production, reflecting a fall in output from its Cadia mine in NSW that was shut after an earthquake in April.
Dairy processor Murray Goulburn has cut its expected milk intake in the 2018 financial year by 8 percent. MG Unit Trust's shares are losing more than 1 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar held is slightly lower against the U.S. dollar on Monday. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7901, down from US$0.7907 on Friday.
The Japanese market is notably lower, following the negative cues from Wall Street. Shares of exporters are hurt by a stronger yen.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 165.25 points or 0.82 percent to 19,934.50, off a low of 19,901.88 earlier.
Among the major exporters, Toshiba is rising more than 2 percent, while Sony is losing almost 2 percent, Canon is declining more than 1 percent and Panasonic is down almost 1 percent.
Among automakers, Toyota is down 0.6 percent and Honda is losing more than 1 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is lower by almost 2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining more than 1 percent.
In the oil space, Inpex is down more than 1 percent and Japan Petroleum is declining 1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Unitika is rising more than 1 percent, while Nisshin Steel and Toray Industries are adding almost 1 percent each.
On the flip side, Tokyo Seikan is losing more than 3 percent, while NSK, Kao Corp. and Sumco Corp. are down almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed that the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in June, albeit at a slightly slower pace, with an eight-month low manufacturing PMI score of 52.2. That's down from 52.4 in June, although it remains well above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Japan will also see final May numbers for its leading and coincident indexes, as well as June figures for supermarket sales today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 110 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand, Indonesia and Taiwan are all modestly lower. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Malaysia are slightly higher.
On Wall Street, stocks closed modestly lower on Friday reflecting a negative reaction to earnings news from some big-name companies like General Electric. Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.
The Dow dipped 31.71 points or 0.2 percent to 21,580.07, the Nasdaq slipped 2.25 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,387.75 and the S&P 500 edged down 0.91 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,472.54.
European stocks also moved mostly lower on Friday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures tumbled Friday, giving back strong gains from earlier in the week amid concerns that next week's OPEC meeting will fail to address the global supply glut. September WTI oil settled at $45.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $1.15, or 2.5 percent.
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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.