Asian stock markets displayed a mixed performance on Thursday, mirroring the mixed cues from Wall Street. Traders are currently adopting a cautious approach as they await the upcoming US GDP data for the first quarter, a report that's likely to impact interest rate forecasts. Although the US Federal Reserve is predicted to maintain steady interest rates during the next week's monetary policy assembly, speculations for potential future rate cuts remain on the cards.
The Australian market is non-operational on Thursday due to the Anzac Day holiday and had shown a slight dip in stocks on the previous day. Meanwhile, the Australian currency is trading at $0.651 on Thursday.
Japan's Nikkei 225 is currently witnessing a sharp decline, falling below the 37,800 point mark. This decrease can be traced back to exporters and technology stocks, with most sectors recording losses. After hitting a low of 37,772.11 points, the Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,818.11 points, a 1.67% drop from the previous 641.97 points.
Market giants SoftBank Group and Toyota are down by more than 1% and 3% respectively, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing has a marginal increase of 0.5%. In the technological sphere, Advantest has a loss of over 2% while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings both incurred more than a 3% decrease. The banking sector is also on a decline with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial both down by 1%.
Other significant losers include J. Front Retailing, Isetan Mitsukoshi and Hino Motors all down by over 4% each and Socionext, Mitsubishi Electric and Credit Saison, each plunging by 3%. On the upside, Renesas Electronics has increased by nearly 4%.
The US dollar is currently trading in the lower 155 yen range.
Moving to other parts of Asia, China has recorded an increase of 0.9% while Hong Kong and Malaysia marginally increased by 0.1% each. Markets in Singapore and Indonesia depreciated by 0.3% whereas South Korea and Taiwan are down by 0.9%. New Zealand's market too, is inactive due to the Anzac Day holiday.
Stocks demonstrated a soft performance on Wall Street on Wednesday. The Dow ended the day marginally down by 42.77 points or 0.1% at 38,460.92 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose barely by a tenth of a percent.
Major European markets displayed mild losses with the German DAX Index down by 0.3%, the French CAC 40 Index by 0.2% and the UK's FTSE 100 Index by 0.1%.
Crude oil prices also plummeted on Wednesday amidst concerns about prospective demand and the easing of tensions in the Middle East. Consequently, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June finished at $82.81 a barrel, down by $0.55.
