Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by strong gains in the technology sector, which mirrored their peers on the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Traders also refrained from big moves due to the lack of clarity over U.S.-Iran negotiations to end the Middle East war, fueling global inflation worries. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.

U.S. and Iranian official are in Qatar, but Iran said it would not meet with top U.S. envoys, raising fresh concerns over the fragile interim ceasefire between the two nations.

Renewed exchanges of fire over the weekend have also dampened expectations of a durable truce. It appears the two sides are far apart on key pillars of the initial framework they signed two weeks ago.

Traders remain wary of the hard stance by both the U.S. and Iran over the authority, control, and management of the Strait of Hormuz.

While Iranian leaders have been reasserting that control over shipping management across the strait will wrest fully with Iran, U.S. leaders have been stressing that the strait will be free for all international ships after the final deal.

Australian shares are trading notably lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 8,750 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in gold miners, energy and financial stocks partially offset by slight gains iron ore miners.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 40.50 points or 0.46 percent to 8,738.20, after hitting a low of 8,721.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 37.70 points or 0.42 percent to 8,948.50. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent, while Fortescue, Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is down more than 1 percent, while Santos and Beach energy is edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 4 percent, Zip is losing more than 2 percent and Xero is slipping almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent and Appen is up more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is declining almost 2 percent and ANZ Banking is edging down 0.5 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and National Australia bank are losing more than 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent, while Genesis Minerals and Resolute Mining are declining almost 2 percent each. Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.2 percent. Newmont is flat.

In other news, shares in IperionX are surging almost 9 percent after it secured up to US$6.6 million or A$9.54 million from the US Department of Defence to expand domestic production of ballistic-grade titanium plate and large-format defence components at its Virginia manufacturing campus.

Shares in Coles are tumbling more than 6 percent after the ACCC blocked the supermarket giant's proposed acquisition of a leasehold interest in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in June, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI core of 51.5. That's up from 50.7 in May and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The Ai Group Industry Index for Australia's construction sector plunged 26.9 points to -38.1 in June 2026, marking its lowest reading since March and signaling a sharp deterioration in business conditions.

Australia's seasonally adjusted dwelling approvals fell 1.1 percent month-on-month to a four-month low of 17,019 units in May 2026, following a 0.2 percent decline in the previous month and slightly worse than market expectations of a 1.0 percent drop, according to preliminary data. Annually, total dwelling approvals rose 5.3 percent, slowing from a 10.9 percent increase in April.

Meanwhile, private house approvals in Australia rose by 2.8 percent month-over-month to 10,537 units in May 2026, according to preliminary estimates, rebounding from a revised 0.4 percent decline in the previous month. The latest reading marked the highest since September 2025. Annually, private house approvals rose by 13.2 percent in May, the strongest growth since September 2024, and accelerating from an upwardly revised 8.3 percent increase in the preceding period.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.689 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving up to near the 70,250 level, with gains in technology and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 70,246.66, up 184.34 points or 0.26 percent, after touching a high of 71,962.34 earlier. Japanese stocks ended significantly higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.4 percent, while Toyota is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is adding almost 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is jumping more than 7 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are all gaining more than 1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 2 percent and Panasonic is advancing almost 4 percent, while Canon and Sony are edging down 0.3 percent each.

Among other major gainers, Taiyo Yuden is skyrocketing more than 13 percent, Sumco is soaring more than 11 percent and Ibiden is jumping almost 11 percent, while Kyocera and Disco are advancing more than 6 percent each. Socionext and Ajinomoto are gaining more than 5 percent each, while Resonac Holdings, Lasertec and Renesas Electronics are adding almost 5 percent each. Murata Manufacturing, Yaskawa Electric and Fuji Electric are up almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, J. Front Retailing is tumbling more than 8 percent, while Furukawa Electric and SHIFT are declining more than 6 percent each. Nitori Holdings, Sharp and Sapporo Holdings are losing more than 4 percent each, while Mitsubishi Estate and Tokyo Electric Power are slipping almost 4 percent each. Kikkoman and Tokyo Gas are down more than 3 percent each, while Aeon, Pan Pacific International, Osaka Gas and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines are losing almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, large manufacturing in Japan accelerated in the second quarter of 2026, the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan Survey of business sentiment showed on Wednesday with a diffusion index score of +22. That beat forecasts for +16 and was up from +17 in the previous three months. The outlook came in at +17, beating forecasts for +13 and up from +14 in the previous quarter.

The large non-manufacturers index came in at +37, beating forecasts for +36 - which would have been unchanged. The outlook was +28, missing expectations for +30 and down from +29 in the previous quarter. The small manufacturing index rose to +9 from +7, while the outlook fell to +2 from +4. The small non-manufacturing index fell to +15 from +16, while the outlook was steady at +8.

Large industry capex is seen higher by 11.5 percent, up from 3.3 percent in Q1. Small industry capex was down 8.3 percent after slumping 8.1 percent in the three months prior.

Meanwhile, the S&P Global Japan Manufacturing PMI was revised slightly lower to 54.8 in June 2026 from 54.9 in the preliminary estimate, but remained above May's reading of 54.5 and close to April's 55.1, which marked the strongest expansion since January 2022. It was the sixth straight month of growth in factory activity

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 162 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is up 1.9 percent, while China, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each. South Korea is bucking the trend and is down 2.8 percent. New Zealand is flat. Hong Kong is closed for Establishment Day.

On the Wall Street, stocks saw further upside during trading on Tuesday following the rally seen over the course of Monday's session. The major averages all moved higher on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq extending yesterday's surge.

The Nasdaq shot up 393.58 points or 1.5 percent to 26,213.72, further offsetting the steep drop seen last week. The S&P 500 also advanced 58.93 points or 0.8 percent to 7,499.36, while the narrower Dow posted a more modest gain, rising 136.46 points or 0.3 percent to a new record closing high of 52,319.20.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped amid conflicting messages about a new round of talks between the U.S. and Iran. While President Donald Trump claimed a meeting is set to be held in Qatar, a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry reportedly denied that talks were scheduled.