Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid spiking crude oil prices as well as a sell-off in technology and semiconductor stocks on concerns of returns on huge AI infrastructure spending. Escalating Middle East tensions and attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz kept oil-supply disruption risks in focus. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 8,800.00 level, with gains in energy and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in gold miners and technology stocks.