Asian Markets Mostly Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders expressed concerns about the outlook for interest rates and a global recession. Traders remain uncertain about the near-term outlook for the markets ahead of next week's US Fed monetary policy meeting. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

The Fed still seems poised to slow the pace of interest rate hikes, but recent upbeat economic data has raised concerns about how much further the central bank will raise rates at future meetings. The Fed will need to push the economy into a prolonged recession in order to bring inflation down close to its 2 percent target.

The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,200 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors, led by energy and mining stocks amid a dip in commodity prices. Gold mining stocks were the bright spot amid a spike in gold prices.