Asian stock markets are mostly subdued on Wednesday with investors digesting some weak economic data from the region. The overnight weak close in the U.S. and European markets too appear to be weighing on sentiment to a notable extent.
After a fairly strong upmove early on in the session following Tuesday's rate cut announcement from the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Australian market pared some gains following a weak trade report.
Key bank stocks are trading firm. Industrial, property trusts and consumer discretionary stocks are trading higher. Mining and energy stocks are mixed.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which advanced to 4,454.6, is currently trading at 4,44.4, up 8.4 points or 0.3 percent from its previous close. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 8.9 points or 0.3 percent at 4,460.8, off the day's high of 4,472.9.
ANZ Bank (ANZ), National Australia Bank and Westpac (WBK) are trading modestly higher, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia is up marginally. Bendigo & Adelaide bank is up 1.5 percent, while Bank of Queensland is trading flat.
Top miners BHP Billiton (BHP, BBL) and Rio Tinto (RIO, RIO.L) are trading marginally up. Fortescue Metals is gaining nearly a percent, while Newcrest Mining is trading 0.8 percent down.
Paladin Energy is trading 4 percent up. Stockland, Aurora Oil & Gas, Seven West Media, Aurora Oil & Gas, Boral, PanAust, Treasury Wine Estates and Harvey Norman Holdings are trading higher by 2 to 3 percent.
Sims Metal Management, Goodman Group, Lynas Corporation, Macquarie Group and Incitec Pivot are also trading notably higher.
Regis Resources is trading 2.8 percent down. Bluescope Steel, Whitehaven Coal, Fairfax Media and ALS are down 1.6 to 2.2 percent.
On the economic front, Australia saw a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade deficit of A$2.027 billion in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.
That was well shy of forecasts for a shortfall of A$685 million following the downwardly revised A$1.530 billion deficit in July - which was originally pegged as a A$556 million deficit.
Exports were down 3.0 percent on month to A$24.589 billion after falling 3.0 percent in the previous month. Imports eased 1.0 percent to A$26.615 billion after easing 1.0 percent a month earlier.
Meanwhile, an index measuring the performance of the service sectors in Australia came in with a score of 41.9 in September, the Australian Industry Group said on Wednesday - down from 42.4 in August and deeper into contraction.
Stocks drifted lower in early trades in the Japanese market on Wednesday following a weak lead from Wall Street, but regained some lost ground subsequently with a weaker yen prompting investors to indulge in some selective buying.
Shares from precision instruments, pharmaceuticals, warehousing and transport sectors traded weak, while real estate, electric machinery and construction stocks are trading mixed.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which declined to around 8,756 in early trades, was up by around 9 points or 0.1 percent at 8,795.1 at the end of the morning session.
NEC Corp., Fuji Heavy Industries, Hino Motors, Ricoh, Ebara Corp. and Chiyoda Corp. gained 3 to 4 percent.
Fast Retailing moved up by about 3 percent on expectations of a jump in sales. Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) shares surged higher, buoyed by strong sales report for September.
Suzuki Motor Corp., Tokyu Land, JGC Corp., Nisshin Seifun Group Inc., Nomura Holdings, Nippon Yusen KK, Furukawa Electric, Toshiba Corp. and Sumitomo Metal Mining all gained between 2 percent and 2.8 percent.
Among the prominent losers, Uny Co Ltd. shares declined 6.8 percent. Nisshin Steel Holdings and Daiichi Sankyo lost around 5 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.
Trend Micro, J Front Retailing, Nippon Light Metals, Advantest Corp. (ATE) and Tokyo Electron drifted down by over 2 percent.
Yahoo Japan, Seven & I Holdings, Olympus Corp., Shionogi, JX Holdings, Mitsui Chemicals, Asahi Group Holdings and Taiheiyo Cement also posted notable losses.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 78 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 78.13 to the dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong and New Zealand are trading notably higher, while Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan are trading weak. Markets in China and South Korea are closed for holidays for National Day and National Foundation Day, respectively.
On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, as traders focused on the latest headlines out of Europe.
The Dow edged down 32.7 points or 0.2 percent to 13,482.4, while the Nasdaq inched up 6.5 points or 0.2 percent to 3,120 and the S&P 500 crept up 1.3 points or 0.1 percent to 1,445.8.
Major European markets moved to the downside on Tuesday. The French CAC 40 index ended down 0.6 percent, while the German DAX index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index dipped by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil settled lower on Tuesday, after fluctuating for most of the day due mainly to lack of direction with investors awaiting crucial supply data and other major macroeconomic data from the U.S. later in the week.
Crude for November delivery dropped $0.59 or 0.6 percent to close at $91.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after scaling a high of $92.94 a barrel intraday.
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