Mirroring the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, as energy stocks tumbled amid a sharp fall in crude oil prices and traders reacted to some economic data emerging from the region, including from Australia and China. Traders are also reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched US monthly jobs report on Friday. Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.
The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Thursday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 7,200 level, with losses in losses in energy stocks amid tumbling crude oil prices, partially offset by strong gains in iron ore miners and technology stocks.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.