Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Thursday
following the sell-off overnight on Wall Street. Concerns about
the political situation in Yemen after Saudi Arabia and its allies began
airstrikes in that country also weighed on the markets.
Crude oil prices rose by more than a dollar.
South Korea, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia are in negative territory. Meanwhile, Shanghai and Singapore are higher.
The Australian market opened lower, as Wall Street gave weak cues prompting investors to indulge in some selling.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 80.40 points or 1.35% to 5,892.90. The broader All Ordinaries Index is declining 76.30 points or 1.29% to 5,860.80.
ANZ Banking and Westpac (WBK) are down more than 1.5% each, while Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are declining more than 1%.
Bank of Queensland said the economic outlook was unclear for the short to medium term, after reporting a 14% increase in net profit for the half year. The company's shares are down more than 3%.
Among the major miners, BHP Billiton (BHP) is declining more than 1%, while Rio Tinto (RIO) is edging up 0.11% and Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 1%. BC Iron is down almost 3%.
The Japanese market also opened lower on the back of a stronger yen.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index is declining 266.95 points or 1.35% to 19,479.25, in the late-morning trades off a low of 19,397.01 in early trades.
Advantest is lower by 3.7%, Toshiba Corp. is down 0.4%, Fanuc is declining 1.8% and Hitachi is losing 1%. Meanwhile, Nintendo is declining 2.2% and Casio Computer is down 1.4%.
Sony is down 2.8%, Panasonic is declining 1.5%, TDK Corp is lower by 3.5% and Nikon Corp is losing 1.3%.
Sharp Corp's shares are losing 2.8%. Sharp Corp. plans to cut management salaries by 5% and wages for other workers by 2% in fiscal 2015 as part of its efforts to lower costs, according to Japanese media.
Sumitomo Corp.'s shares are down 0.8%. Trading house said on Wednesday that it expects to report a net loss of 85 billion yen for the year ending March 31.
In the financial sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are down by more than 2% each, while Mizuho Financial (MFG) is losing 0.9%.
In the auto sector, Toyota (TM) is down 0.9%, Honda (HMC) is lower by 1.1% and Nissan is declining 2.4%. According to the Nikkei business daily, Toyota plans to roll out more hybrid vehicles in Japan and account for half of its domestic sales.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the US dollar on Thursday despite weak US economic data overnight. In early trades, the local unit is trading at USD0.7839, down from Wednesday's close of USD0.7878.
Wall Street closed sharply lower on Wednesday, adding to the losses posted in the previous session. The sell-off was led by technology stocks, as negative sentiment was generated by analyst comments raising concerns about weak demand for desktop computer processors and currency headwinds.
The Dow tumbled 292.60 points or 1.6% to 17,718.54, the Nasdaq plunged 118.21 points or 2.4% to 4,876.52 and the S&P 500 slumped 30.45 points or 1.5% to 2,061.05.
