Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Thursday amid worries about the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China just as the week-long Lunar New Year holidays starts on Friday, when millions of Chinese travel domestically and abroad. The death toll from the virus has risen to 17 in China, with more than 570 cases confirmed.
The Australian market is declining amid fears about the coronavirus outbreak in China. Investors also digested weak corporate earnings outlook.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 56.10 points or 0.79 percent to 7,076.60, just off a low of 7,076.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is lower by 60.40 points or 0.83 percent to 7,188.60. Australian stocks rallied to reach fresh highs on Wednesday.
Shares of Downer EDI are falling more than 21 percent after the engineering contractor lowered its earnings outlook for fiscal 2020 due to the under-performance of its Engineering, Construction and Maintenance or EC&M business.
CIMIC Group said it plans to exit the Middle East with the sale of its 45 percent stake in BIC Contracting and expects to incur a one-time charge of A$1.8 billion. The engineering contractor's shares are tumbling almost 20 percent.
Tech stocks are lower. Appen is losing 2 percent, Xero is lower by more than 1 percent and Wisetech Global is declining almost 1 percent.
Oil stocks are weak after crude oil prices fell overnight. Santos is lower by more than 2 percent, Oil Search is down almost 2 percent and Woodside Petroleum is losing more than 1 percent.
Gold miners are also lower after gold prices edged lower overnight. Evolution Mining is declining more than 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is lower by 0.5 percent.
Among the major miners, Fortescue Metals is lower by more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is declining 0.4 percent, while BHP is edging up 0.1 percent.
The big four banks are mixed. ANZ Banking is adding 0.3 percent and Commonwealth Bank is rising 0.2 percent, while Westpac is lower by 0.5 percent and National Australia Bank is edging down 0.1 percent.
In economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.1 percent in December. That beat forecasts for 5.2 percent, which would have been unchanged from the November reading.
The Australian economy added 28,900 jobs last month, beating expectations for an increase of 10,000 jobs after gaining 38,500 jobs in the previous month.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar was quoted at $0.6844 on Thursday.
The Japanese market is losing, while the safe-haven yen strengthened amid worries about the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is declining 145.08 points or 0.60 percent to 23,886.27, after touching a low of 23,779.23 in early trades.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp. and Fast Retailing are lower by more than 1 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Advantest is gaining more than 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding 0.2 percent.
The major exporters are lower on a stronger safe-haven yen. Sony is declining 0.5 percent, while Canon and Panasonic are lower by 0.4 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.1 percent.
Among auto stocks, Toyota Motor is adding 0.4 percent, while Honda Motor is lower by 0.3 percent.
In the oil sector, Inpex is losing almost 2 percent and Japan Petroleum is declining 0.2 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Shinsei Bank is advancing almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is higher by more than 1 percent.
On the flip side, Nissan Chemical and Mitsui Mining & Smelting are losing almost 3 percent each. Sumitomo Heavy Industries, FamilyMart, Tokuyama Corp., Nippon Yusen, Seiko Epson and Mitsui OSK Lines are all lower by more than 2 percent each.
On the economic front, the Ministry of Finance said that Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 152.5 billion yen in December. That narrowly beat forecasts for a shortfall of 152.6 billion yen following the 85.2 billion yen deficit in November.
Exports were down 6.3 percent on year, missing expectations for a drop of 4.3 percent following the 7.9 percent slide in the previous month. Imports sank an annual 4.9 percent versus forecasts for a decline of 3.2 percent after tumbling 15.7 percent a month earlier.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 109 yen-range on Thursday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai and Hong Kong are losing more than 1 percent each, while South Korea is declining almost 1 percent and Malaysia is also lower.
New Zealand, Indonesia and Taiwan are modestly higher, while Singapore is little changed.
On Wall Street, stocks saw early strength following the announcement of better than expected earnings results from IBM Corp. and on news of the Chinese government's efforts to stop the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. Buying interest waned as the day progressed. Traders largely shrugged off a report from the National Association of Realtors showing U.S. existing home sales rebounded by much more than anticipated in the month of December.
While the Dow edged down 9.77 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 29,186.27, the Nasdaq inched up 12.96 points or 0.1 percent to 9,383.77 and the S&P 500 crept up 0.96 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 3,321.75.
The major European markets moved to the downside on Wednesday. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices declined sharply on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about outlook for energy demand and on the International Energy Agency's report that forecasts a jump in global oil supply. WTI crude for March delivery tumbled $1.64 or about 2.8 percent to $56.74 a barrel.
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