Asian Stocks End Mixed On Lackluster Commodities, Weak Overseas Lead

(RTTNews) - The major Asian markets ended Thursday's session mixed, with the uninspiring lead from Wall Street overnight, muted performance by commodities and Fed Chair Janet Yellen's Jackson Hole address due on Friday all playing out in the minds of traders.

The Taiwanese, Singaporean, New Zealand, Indonesian and Hong Kong markets advanced, while the Australian, Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, Japanese and South Korean markets ended lower.

U.S. stocks retreated on Wednesday, as oil fell steeply and amid nervousness concerning the Fed Chair Janet Yellen's speech scheduled for Friday. And early indications suggest that U.S. stocks are poised for a modestly lower opening.

Meanwhile, European stocks are tumbling amid the release of a report showing an unexpected drop in German business sentiment.

Commodities were mostly higher in the Asian session.

The Japanese market succumbed to the yen's strength in the Asian session. The Nikkei 225 average opened lower and languished below the unchanged line till late afternoon trading. Although a recovery attempt took it past the unchanged line briefly, the index retreated yet again, closing down 41.35 points or 0.25 percent at 16,556.

Utility, housing, food, chemical, resource and pharma stocks came under selling pressure and the export space saw mixed sentiment, while financial stocks advanced.

Australia's All Ordinaries languished below the unchanged line throughout the session, ending near the lows of the session. The index was down 22.20 points or 0.39 percent at 5,631 at the close of trading.

China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 17.55 points or 0.57 percent before ending at 3,068, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended at 22,827, up 6.09 points or 0.03 percent.

On the economic front, data released by the Bank of Japan showed that corporate service price index rose 0.4 percent year-over-year in July, ahead of the 0.1 percent increase expected by economists. In June, the index was up 0.2 percent. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.4 percent.