Asian stock markets are in negative territory on Friday following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street and as investors focused on regional corporate earnings results. The U.S. dollar was flat in Asian trades after rebounding overnight on better-than-expected U.S. durable goods orders data.
The Australian market is declining following the mixed lead from Wall Street and as investors braced for major corporate earnings results next week. Banks and healthcare stocks are among the major decliners.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 63.60 points or 1.10 percent to 5,721.40. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 60.90 points or 1.04 percent to 5,771.30.
In the banking sector, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are lower in a range of 1.1 percent to 1.4 percent.
Healthcare stocks are also notably lower. Cochlear and CSL are down 2 perent each, while Ramsay Healthcare is losing almost 2 percent.
In the mining space, BHP Billion is down 0.6 percent and Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent, while Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 4 percent after iron ore prices lingered around the $70 a tonne level.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining is lower by 0.5 percent and Evolution Mining is down almost 1 percent.
Among oil stocks, Oil Search and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Petroleum is edging up less than 0.1 percent.
Webjet said its full-year earnings could be under a cloud amid a dispute with its auditor over the accounting treatment for a contract with Thomas Cook. The online travel agency's shares are lower by more than 5 percent.
Creso Pharma has expanded into the Canadian market with the proposed acquisition of medicinal cannabis producer Mernova Medical for A$10.2 million. However, shares of Creso Pharma are losing almost 2 percent.
In economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that final demand producer prices in Australia were up 0.5 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2017 - unchanged from the previous three months. On a yearly basis, producer prices jumped 1.7 percent - accelerating from 1.3 percent in the three months prior.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar fell sharply against the U.S. dollar, which was boosted by better-than-expected durable goods data. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7967, down from US$0.8037 on Thursday.
The Japanese market is losing, following the lackluster cues from Wall Street and as investors digested a raft of local economic data. In addition, a stronger yen weighed on exporters' shares.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 97.62 points or 0.49 percent to 19,982.02, off a low of 19,963.96 earlier.
Among the major exporters, Sony is down almost 1 percent, while Panasonic is up 0.1 percent and Canon is advancing almost 1 percent.
Toshiba is losing almost 8 percent amid speculation that the company is at a great risk of being delisted following a delay in the sale of the company's flash memory unit.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Toshiba has agreed to pay $2.168 billion to SCANA to exit from two incomplete nuclear projects undertaken by Toshiba subsidiary Westinghouse.
Among automakers, Toyota is down 0.1 percent and Honda is edging down less than 0.1 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is unchanged.
In the oil space, Inpex is advancing almost 1 percent and Japan Petroleum is rising 0.5 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Hitachi Construction Machinery and Takara Holdings are gaining almost 4 percent, while GS Yuasa is rising almost 3 percent.
On the flip side, Tokyo Electron is losing more than 6 percent, Fuji Electric is down more than 5 percent and Nissan is lower by more than 5 percent.
On the economic front, overall nationwide consumer prices in Japan gained 0.4 percent on year in June, in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous month.
The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.8 percent in June, beneath expectations for 3.0 percent and down from 3.1 percent in May.
The average of household spending in Japan was up 2.3 percent on year in June, standing at 268,802 yen. That was well above expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent following the 0.1 percent decline in May.
Retail sales in Japan were up a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on month in June - shy of expectations for a gain of 0.4 percent following the 1.5 percent decline in May.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the 111 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan are all lower. Shanghai is edging higher.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Thursday after showing early strength reflecting a positive reaction to earnings news from some big-name companies like Verizon and Facebook. However, traders later took the opportunity to cash in on some of the recent strength in the markets.
The Dow rose 85.54 points or 0.4 percent to 21,796.55, while the Nasdaq fell 40.56 points or 0.6 percent to 6,382.19 and the S&P 500 edged down 2.41 points or 0.1 percent to 2,475.42.
The major European markets moved to the downside on Thursday. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both edged down by 0.1 percent.
Crude oil futures continued to march near $50 a barrel Thursday, powered by hopes that OPEC can re-balance the global oil market. September WTI oil gained 29 cents, or 0.6 percent, to settle at $49.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since May 30.
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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.