Asian stock markets are mostly trading notably lower on Monday with investors pressing sales amid lingering worries about the debt crisis in the euro zone. Though most of the markets posted strong gains on Friday after the European Union, Greece and the International Monetary Fund agreed on an austerity package for Greece, investors are mostly treading cautiously today amid caution ahead of a Greek vote on the rescue plan.
Mining, energy and industrial stocks are among the notable losers in the Australian market. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 50.1 points or 1.1 percent at 4,458. The broader All Ordinaries index is down 54 points or 1.2 percent at 4,511.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank are down 0.5 to 1.4 percent, while Westpac is trading marginally up. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Bank of Queensland are trading modestly lower.
Top miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are down 0.7 percent and 1 percent respectively, while Fortescue Metals and Newcrest Mining are both trading lower by about 2.5 percent.
Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum is down 1 percent, Santos is losing over 2 percent, Oil Search is down with a loss of 1.1 percent and Origin Energy is down by about 2 percent.
Panaust, Paladin Energy, Asciano, Primary Healthcare, Downer EDI and Sims Metal Management are down 3 to 4.8 percent now.
Incitec Pivot, Lynas Corporation, Worleyparsons, Alumina, Macarthur Coal, Leighton Holdings, Bluescope Steel, Board Longyear, Cochlear and Brambles are also trading sharply lower.
FerrAus has recommended to its shareholders an offer from fellow Pilbara-focused iron ore miner Atlas Iron that could put an end to a hostile bid from Hong Kong investment company Wah Nam. Shares of Atlas Iron are down nearly 4 percent at present.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened notably lower with traders waiting for a Greek vote on a new austerity package. In early trades, the Aussie was quoting at US$1.0482, down from Friday's close of US$1.0523. The Australian dollar is currently trading at 1.0442 to the U.S. dollar.
The Japanese stock market opened on a weak note and drifted further lower amid concerns about euro zone debt worries. Bank stocks declined as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision raised capital adequacy requirements for the world's biggest lenders. Stocks were also negatively impacted on concerns that Greece may not meet bailout conditions.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which declined to around 9,570, was down 83.5 points or 0.9 percent at 9,595.2 at the end of the morning session.
Apart from key bank stocks, several stocks from insurance, manufacturing and non-ferrous metals sectors were trading notably lower. Electric power, automobile, steel and pharmaceuticals stocks were trading mixed.
Mizuho Trust & Banking, Chiba Bank, Shizuoka Bank, Bank of Yokohama and Mizuho Financial were down 1.5 to 2.5 percent. Shinsei Bank was also trading notably lower.
Among automobile stocks, Mazda Motor and Toyota Motor were trading notably lower. Suzuki Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor were up with modest gains, while Mitsubishi Motor was trading flat.
Mitsubishi Paper was down by over 3.5 percent. CSK Corp., T&D Holding, Sumco, Advantest, Taiyo Yuden, Pacific Metals, SM Trust and Nisshin Steel were down 2 to 3 percent.
Sony Corp., Resona Holdings, Japan Tobacco, Daiwa Securities Group, Shionogi, Nippon Steel, Nomura Holdings and Nippon Sheet Glass were also down with sharp losses.
Shares of Tokyo Electric Power were up nearly 5 percent. Takashimaya, Ebara Corp., Taiheiyo Cement, Sumitomo Osaka, Nippon Electric Glass, J Front Retailing and Heiwa Real Estate were also trading firm.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid-80 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 80.70 to the U.S. 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 between 0.5 to 1.2 percent. Malaysia and New Zealand are also trading weak, while Shanghai is bucking the trend and trading notably higher. Markets across the region ended mostly higher on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks drifted lower on Friday with traders shrugging off relatively upbeat economic data amid a negative reaction to quarterly results from some major technology companies.
The major averages all moved sharply lower on the day, closing near their worst levels of the session. The Dow ended down 115.4 points or 1 percent at 11,934.6, the Nasdaq dropped by 33.9 points or 1.3 percent to 2,652.9 and the S&P 500 slid by about 15 points or 1.2 percent to 1,268.4.
Major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Friday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index gained 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index ended lower by 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent respectively.
Crude oil prices ended marginally higher on Friday. Light, sweet crude for August delivery ended up 14 cents at $91.16 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.