Asian stock markets are mostly trading lower on Thursday, extending losses from the previous session, on renewed concerns about the Eurozone debt crisis following a weak Spanish bond auction. Investor sentiment was also dampened, as the possibility of further quantitative easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve faded.
On Wednesday, the Spanish government was able to achieve only the lower end of its target with the sale of nearly 2.6 billion euros worth of bonds at its latest debt auction. Borrowing costs increased as investors became more concerned about Spain's public finances.
The Japanese market is trading in negative territory, with the Nikkei index hitting a fresh one-month intraday low, on renewed fears about the Eurozone debt crisis following a weak Spanish bond auction. Weak cues from Wall Street and European markets also weighed on investor sentiment.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index ended the morning session at 9,727.99, down 92.00 points or 0.94 percent, after falling below 9,700 on an intraday basis for the first time since March 8.
On Wednesday, the Nikkei index fell 2.3 percent below 10,000 to a one-month low, as concerns over structural problems in the peripheral EU countries and signs of little fresh stimulus to the U.S. economy heightened risk aversion.
In the tech space, Advantest is currently losing 0.78 percent, Kyocera is declining 1.76 percent, Tokyo Electron is down 2.63 percent and Sony is trading lower by 1.63 percent.
Among exporters, Canon is down 0.90 percent, Hitachi is losing 2.24 percent, Sharp is declining 2.46 percent and Komatsu is declining 1.60 percent.
However, Showa Denko is bucking the trend, possibly following a report in the Nikkei business daily that the company will start supply hard disks to US hard-drive maker Seagate Technology Plc.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ is trading lower by 2.19 percent and Mizuho Financial is down 3.08 percent.
Among automakers, Honda Motor is declining 3.23 percent, Toyota Motor is losing 2.73 percent, Mazda Motor is down 0.71 percent and Mitsubishi Motors is down 2.15 percent.
In the energy space, Inpex is trading lower by 2.36 percent and Showa Shell Sekiyu is down 0.20 percent.
Shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co. are gaining almost 2 percent following a media report that the Japanese government will take majority control of the company in exchange for a capital infusion of 1 trillion yen. The deal that leaves open the possibility of the government gaining more than two-thirds of voting rights in the company.
On the economic front, Japan's Ministry of Finance said that Japanese residents purchased a net 762.4 billion yen in foreign bonds and notes in the week ended March 31. They also sold a net 158.3 billion yen in foreign stocks in the week.
Meanwhile, foreign investors purchased a net 132.1 billion in Japanese stocks last week and also bought a net 144.1 billion yen in Japanese bonds and notes.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 82 yen-range on Thursday. In late morning trades, the dollar was quoted in a range of 82.26 to 82.30 yen, down 0.44 yen from Wednesday's close of 82.70 to 82.71 yen in Tokyo.
The Australian market opened lower on Thursday, tracking the negative cues from Wall Street and lower commodity prices.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 32 points or 0.75 percent to 4302, while the All Ordinaries Index is down 35 points or 0.79 percent to 4384.
The Australian market eased slightly on Wednesday as weakness in the resource sector outweighed gains among financial stocks. Paring early losses, both the S&P/ASX 200 and the All Ordinaries indices finished down about 0.1 percent each.
In the mining space, BHP Billiton is currently losing 1.27, Rio Tinto is down 2.05 percent and Fortescue Metals Group is declining 1.51 percent.
Precious metals tumbled overnight, with gold ending at 12-week lows, as investors reacted to the Federal Reserve's reticence over further stimulus. Copper futures slipped to their lowest levels in almost two weeks. Among gold miners, Newcrest Mining is down 1.72 percent.
In the banking sector, ANZ Bank is trading lower by 0.74 percent, Commonwealth Bank is declining 0.36 percent, National Bank is down 0.36 percent and Westpac is losing 0.59 percent.
Energy stocks are mostly trading weak on lower oil prices. Oil Search is adding 0.29 percent, while Origin Energy is down 0.60 percent and Santos is trading lower by 1.12 percent.
Insurance Australia Group or IAG has completed its A$303.72 million acquisition of New Zealand's AMI Insurance after getting approval from regulators. The company said it received final approval from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand for the deal. However, IAG's stock is down 0.43 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened lower against the U.S. dollar following a weak Spanish bond auction. In early morning trades, the local unit was trading at US$1.0270, down from US$1.0282 on Wednesday.
Among other markets in the Asian region, Taiwan and Hong Kong are trading notably lower, while South Korea, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore are trading marginally lower. Shanghai and Indonesia are trading slightly higher. Markets in India and Philippines are closed for Mahavir Jayanti and Maundy Thursday respectively.
On Wall Street, stocks saw considerable weakness during trading on Wednesday, extending the downward move seen in the previous session. The sell-off reflected continued disappointment with the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting in addition to a disappointing Spanish bond auction as well as a weaker than expected reading on U.S. service sector activity.
The Dow fell 124.80 points or 1 percent to 13,074.75, the Nasdaq plunged 45.48 points or 1.5 percent to 3,068.09 and the S&P 500 dropped 14.42 points or 1 percent to 1,398.96.
The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on Wednesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dropped by 2.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index plummeted by 2.7 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil futures plunged to close at a 7-week low Wednesday on demand growth concerns after data from the Energy Information Administration revealed a huge increase in U.S. crude stockpiles, more than four times what analysts expected.
Crude for May delivery dropped $2.54 or 2.4 percent to close at $101.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday.
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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.