Asian Markets In Negative Territory

Asian stock markets are in negative territory on Thursday following the negative cues from Wall Street after the release of minutes of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting in July. The Federal Reserve warned the economic recovery of the U.S. from the coronavirus-induced downturn faced a highly uncertain path.

"The ongoing public health crisis will weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term," the Fed said.

The Australian market is declining following the negative lead from Wall Street and as investors digested weak earnings results from Qantas Airways.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 54.70 points or 0.89 percent to 6,112.90, after touching a low of 6,110.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is lower by 50.00 points or 0.79 percent to 6,264.10. Australian stocks closed higher on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is down more than 1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are lower in a range of 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent.

Among the major miners, Fortescue Metals is lower by more than 1 percent, Rio Tinto is declining 0.7 percent and BHP Group is down 0.6 percent.

Gold miners are also weak after gold prices fell below the key $2,000 an ounce level overnight. Evolution Mining is lower by almost 3 percent and Newcrest Mining is losing more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are lower after crude oil prices ended little changed overnight. Santos is tumbling more than 4 percent, Oil Search is declining more than 2 percent and Woodside Petroleum is losing 2 percent.

Qantas Airways reported a nearly 91 percent fall in underlying profit before tax for the full year and said its international network was unlikely to restart before July 2021. The airline's statutory net loss was A$1.96 billion. The company's shares are up 0.1 percent.

Wesfarmers, the parent company of Kmart, Target, Officeworks and Bunnings, reported a 69 percent drop in full-year net profit. However, the company's shares are down 0.2 percent.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar on Thursday. The local currency was quoted at $0.7176, down from $0.7249 at close on Wednesday.

The Japanese market is losing, tracking the negative cues from Wall Street following the release of minutes of the Federal Reserve's July monetary policy meeting.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is declining 144.19 points or 0.62 percent to 22,966.42, after falling to a low of 22,955.26 earlier. Japanese shares closed higher on Wednesday after two days of losses.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is lower by more than 2 percent and Fast Retailing is declining almost 1 percent.

The major exporters are mixed despite a weaker yen. Panasonic is rising almost 3 percent and Canon is edging up 0.1 percent, while Sony is declining more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is lower by more than 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is down more than 1 percent. In the financial sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding 0.3 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining 0.3 percent.

Among automakers, Honda Motor is down more than 1 percent and Toyota is lower by almost 1 percent.

In the oil sector, Inpex is declining almost 1 percent and Japan Petroleum is down 0.6 percent after crude oil prices ended little changed overnight.

Takeda Pharmaceutical is considering selling its over-the-counter medicine unit to U.S. investment fund Blackstone Group for about 300 billion yen, Kyodo News reported. Shares of Takeda Pharma are declining almost 1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Mitsubishi Motors is rising almost 3 percent and Daiwa House Industry is higher by more than 2 percent.

Conversely, Screen Holdings is losing more than 4 percent, while Z Holdings, Fujitsu, Dena Co. and Tokyu Fudosan are all lower by more than 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 106 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are losing more than 3 percent each, while Hong Kong and Singapore are lower by almost 2 percent each, and Shanghai is declining more than 1 percent. New Zealand is also lower. The markets in Malaysia and Indonesia are closed on Thursday for the Islamic New Year.

On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Wednesday following the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July monetary policy meeting. The minutes noted that the coronavirus outbreak is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world. The Fed added that economic activity and employment have picked up somewhat in recent months but remain well below their levels at the beginning of the year.

The Dow dipped 85.19 points or 0.3 percent to 27,692.88, the Nasdaq slid 64.38 points or 0.6 percent to 11,146.46 and the S&P 500 fell 14.93 points or 0.4 percent to 3,374.85.

The major European markets all moved to the upside on Wednesday. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices were little changed on Wednesday amid concerns about U.S. fuel demand and on caution ahead of a key producer countries' ministerial meeting later in the day. WTI crude edged higher by $0.04 to settle at $42.93 a barrel.