Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by South Korean and Japanese markets on continued sell-off in semiconductor and technology stocks amid concerns over the sustainability of the AI and technology investments. The uncertainty over the resolution in the Middle East conflict also continues to weigh on market sentiment. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,900 level, with gains in energy and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and technology stocks.