Asian stock markets are mostly trading weak on Friday amid lingering worries about the debt crisis in the euro zone. Though most of the markets started off on a high note on the back of a positive lead from Wall Street, investors chose to trim down positions due to doubts about the sustainability of global economic growth.
After a sharp upmove on the back of a positive lead from Wall Street and some hectic bargain hunting, the Australian market has shed a significant portion of its gains and is currently trading modestly higher amid selective buying support.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which rose to 4,524.9, is now up just 8.8 points at 4,488. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 3.3 points at 4,550, well off the day's high of 4,589.6.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac are up with modest gains. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is up 0.5 percent, while Bank of Queensland is gaining about 1.2 percent.
Top miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are up marginally, while Fortescue Metals is gaining 1.2 percent and Newcrest Mining is up nearly a percent. Bluescope Steel and Incitec Pivot are up 2.6 percent and 1.8 percent respectively, while Orica is up 1.5 percent over its previous closing price.
Energy stock Woodside Petroleum is down by over 4 percent after the company pushed back the start-up date of its Pluto liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia. The company has announced that the first LNG cargo is likely to be dispatched in March 2012, and not December as previously advised. The three-month delay will add A$900 million to the total cost, taking the figure to A$14.9 billion.
Oil Search and Origin Energy are up with modest gains, while Santos is up marginally. Santos and U.S.-based Magellan Petroleum are reportedly fighting over a deposit that Magellan wants back after the sale of a stake in a gas field collapsed. Magellan was planning to buy a 40 percent working interest from Santos in the Evans Shoal gas field north of Darwin but was unable to satisfy conditions by a May 31 deadline. Magellan released a statement on Friday saying that it wanted the deposit it had paid back.
QBE Insurance, Transfield Services, Downer EDI, Challenger, Cochlear, Amcor and Leighton Holdings are up 2 to 2.6 percent. Goodman Fielder, Billabong International, James Hardie Industries, JB Hi-Fi, Fairfax Media and QR National are also up with strong gains.
Telstra Corporation Ltd shares are up nearly a percent. The company has announced that it has yet to consider or agree to the package of agreements it is negotiating with the federal government and the builder of the national broadband network.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened on a firm note and was quoting at US$1.0555 in early trades, up from Thursday's close of US$1.0535. The Australian dollar is currently trading at 1.0540 to the U.S. dollar.
Buoyed by a fall in U.S. jobless claims and a modest jump in housing starts, the Japanese stock market opened on a firm note. However, with concerns about debt worries in Greece continuing to hurt sentiment, the market slipped into negative territory subsequently.
Precision instruments, railway, textiles and communications started off on a firm note but gave up some gains towards the end of the morning session. Insurance, pharmaceuticals and marine transport stocks were trading weak, while bank, automobile and non-ferrous metals stocks traded mixed.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which rebounded to 9,445 after a fall from higher levels, faltered again and was down with a slender loss at 9,410.7 at the end of the morning session.
Citizen Holdings, KDDI Corp., Taiyo Yuden, CSK Corp., Yokogawa Electric, Dainippon Screen, Chubu Electric Power, Japan Steel Work, Mitsui Mining and Oki Electric were up 1.5 to 3 percent.
Fast Retailing, Advantest, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Logistics, Toho Zinc and Konami Corp were also trading notably higher.
Among automobile stocks, Mazda Motor, Hino Motors and Toyota Motor were trading higher. Mitsubishi Motor was trading flat, while Suzuki Motor and Honda Motor were trading in negative territory.
In the banking space, Chiba Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Shinsei Bank, Mizuho Financial and Shizuoka Bank were trading weak. However, Mizuho Trust & Banking was in positive territory with a strong gain of 1.6 percent.
Tosoh, JX HD, Oji Paper, Nippon Steel, Daiwa Securities Group, Japan Tobacco, Mitsubishi Paper, Sumitomo Metal Industries, J Front Retailing and Tokyo Electric Power were among the notable losers.
According to the minutes of the Bank of Japan's May 19-20 policy board meeting, the Japanese economy is showing signs of gradual improvement after a post-quake plunge. Several board members noted that uncertainty is easing over finding solutions to problems stemming from supply chain disruptions and power shortages.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid-80 range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 80.60 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are trading weak, while Indonesia and Malaysia are up with modest gains. Markets across the region ended mostly lower on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended on a mixed note on Thursday after showing considerable volatility following a mixed batch of economic data. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before closing mixed.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a modest loss on the day, falling by 7.8 points or 0.3 percent to a three-month closing low of 2,623.7, while the Dow rose 64.2 points or 0.5 percent to 11,961.5 and the S&P 500 edged up 2.2 points or 0.2 percent to 1,267.6.
Major European markets ended in the red on Thursday. The German DAX index edged down by 0.1 percent, while the French CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index lost 0.4 percent and 0.8 percent respectively.
Crude oil prices rebounded a bit on Thursday after the previous session's setback. Forecast for a surge in demand aided the rise. Light, sweet crude for July delivery ended up 14 cents at $94.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.