Asian stock markets are in negative territory on Wednesday amid worries about the sell-off in the Chinese stock markets and the Greek debt crisis.
Following the emergency euro zone summit in Brussels, European leaders on Tuesday gave debt-stricken Greece a final deadline of Sunday to reach a new bailout deal and avoid Greece's exit from the euro zone.
The Australian market opened lower, as resource stocks were dragged down by the overnight decline in commodity prices amid worries about the volatility in China's stock market.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index is declining 42.60 points or 0.76 percent to 5,538.80, off a low of 5,515.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 37.20 points or 0.67 percent to 5,526.80.
Miners are lower after iron ore prices plunged below $50 a ton overnight for the first time in nearly three months. BHP Billiton (BHP) is losing more than 1 percent, Rio Tinto (RIO) is declining 0.9 percent and Fortescue Metals is lower by almost 3 percent.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining is losing more than 3 percent and Evolution Mining is down almost 5 percent after gold prices tumbled overnight.
The big four banks are also weak. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac (WBK) are lower in a range of 0.4 percent to 0.9 percent. Macquarie Group is down more than 1 percent.
In the oil sector, Oil Search is down 0.6 percent, Woodside Petroleum is losing almost 1 percent and Santos is declining almost 2 percent after crude oil prices declined overnight.
Incitec Pivot said that its net profit for fiscal 2015 could be negatively hit by up to A$15 million, as the joint venture that supplies gas to its Moranbah plant expects to reduce supply until sometime in 2016. Shares of the explosives and fertilizer maker are declining more than 2 percent.
Meanwhile, shares of Webjet are higher by almost 7 percent after the online travel company affirmed its outlook for full-year underlying earnings despite a rise in costs and foreign currency fluctuations.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar touched a fresh six-year low against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as the greenback, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Greek debt crisis, rallied. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7452, down from Tuesday's close of US$0.7485.
The Japanese market is lower amid continued worries about the Greek debt crisis. Data showing that Japan logged a better-than-expected current account surplus in the month of May failed to boost sentiment.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 331.62 or 1.63 to 20,044.97, off a low of 20,035.73 earlier.
Among the major exporters, Sony Corp. (SNE) is losing more than 1 percent, Panasonic is down more than 2 percent and Toshiba is declining almost 1 percent.
In the tech sector, Casio Computer is lower by almost 3 percent, Kyocera is declining more than 2 percent and Fanuc is down almost 2 percent.
Pretax profits at Japan's three major convenience-store chains hit record highs during the quarter ended May. However, shares of Seven & I Holdings are down more than 1 percent, Lawson is losing almost 3 percent and FamilyMart is lower by more than 2 percent.
Among auto stocks, Toyota (TM) is declining 1 percent, while Suzuki and Mazda are lower by more than 2 percent.
In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU) and Mizuho Financial are down almost 2 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is lower by more than 2 percent.
Among the other major decliners, Itochu Corp is down more than 7 percent, Pacific Metals is declining almost 5 percent and Nissan Motor is lower by more than 4 percent.
On the economic front, the Ministry of Finance said that Japan posted a current account surplus of 1.880 trillion yen in May, surging 266.7 percent on year. The headline figure topped expectations for a surplus of 1.570 trillion yen following the 1.326 trillion yen surplus in April.
The trade balance reflected a deficit of 47.3 billion yen - also beating forecasts for a shortfall of 283.8 billion yen following the 146.2 billion yen shortfall in the previous month.
The Bank of Japan said that overall bank lending in Japan was up 2.5 percent on year in June, coming in at 487.773 trillion yen. That was in line with expectations, and down from the 2.6 percent increase in May.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 122 yen range on Wednesday, down from Tuesday's close in the upper 122 yen-range in Tokyo.
Among the other markets in the Asian region, Shanghai is down almost 5 percent and Hong Kong is losing more than 3 percent. South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are also in negative territory.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial turnaround on Tuesday, after falling sharply in early trading amid concerns about the ongoing Greek debt crisis. Selling pressure eventually waned due in part to optimism a deal could still be reached.
The Dow ended the day up 93.33 points or 0.5 percent to 17,776.91 after falling more than 200 points to its lowest intraday level in five months. The S&P 500 also climbed 12.58 points or 0.6 percent to 2,081.34, while the Nasdaq edged up 5.52 points or 0.1 percent to 4,997.46.
The major European markets all moved sharply lower on Tuesday as concerns over Greece continued to weigh on investor sentiment. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.6 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index plummeted by 2 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil ended lower for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, as the dollar trended higher against some major currencies and investors kept a close watch on the Iran nuclear agreement with talks reportedly extended until Friday.
Crude Oil futures for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, fell $0.20 or 0.4 percent, to settle at $52.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.
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May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.