(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Thursday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rate hikes after the US Fed hiked interest rates for the tenth straight time, but appeared to signal a potential pause in rate hikes. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments during his post-meeting press conference led to renewed uncertainty about the outlook for rates. Powell said the central bank would take a "data-dependent approach" to future monetary policy decisions.
The unanimous decision to continue raising rates came as the Fed noted inflation remains elevated while also observing that job gains have been robust in recent months and the unemployment rate has remained low.
The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by strong losses in financial stocks amid renewed uncertainty over the outlook for interest rates after the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the tenth straight time.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 15.30 points or 0.21 percent to 7,182.10, after hitting a low of 7,141.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 12.80 points or 0.17 percent to 7,376.20. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.4 percent, while Mineral Resources is losing more than 3 percent. Oil stocks are mixed. Santos, Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy is declining almost 1 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent and Xero is edging up 0.3 percent, while WiseTech Global and Zip are up almost 1 percent each. Appen is edging down 0.3 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are losing more than 3 percent each, while Westpac is declining almost 5 percent. National Australia Bank plunged more than 7 percent after reporting a net profit for the first half that fell short of analyst estimates. Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources is adding more than 2 percent, Evolution Mining is advancing almost 5 percent, Northern Star Resources is rising almost 4 percent, Resolute Mining is gaining more than 3 percent and Newcrest Mining is up almost 1 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.668 on Thursday.
The Japanese stock market is closed on account of Greenery Day holiday. Japanese stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday prior to the holiday on Wednesday.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-134 yen-range on Thursday.
Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are higher by between 0.2 and 1.0 percent each, while New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore are lower by between 0.1 and 0.3 percent each. Indonesia is relatively flat. Malaysia is closed for Wesak Day holiday. On Wall Street, stock saw substantial volatility following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday before eventually ending the session mostly lower. With the decrease on the day, the major averages added to the steep losses posted on Tuesday.
The major averages finished the session just off their worst levels of the day. The Dow slid 270.29 points or 0.8 percent to 33,414.24, the Nasdaq fell 55.18 points or 0.5 percent to 12,025.33 and the S&P 500 dropped 28.83 points or 0.7 percent to 4,090.75.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday amid concerns about economic growth and the outlook for energy demand, as well as data showing an increase in gasoline inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down $3.06 or 4.3 percent at $68.60 a barrel, the lowest settlement since March 24.
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