Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, after reports indicated the Trump administration is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in Intel and other chipmakers in return for the federal subsidies. Traders also remain optimistic about the US Fed cutting interest rates is September. Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had confirmed on Tuesday that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was working on a deal to take a 10 percent stake in Intel.

Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of US Fed Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday. His remarks could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Fed's next monetary policy meeting in September.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 82.9 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point next month.

The Australian market is trading significantly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 9,000 mark to fresh all-time highs, with gains across most sectors led by mining, financial and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 76.50 points or 0.86 percent to 8,994.50, after touching a record all-time high of 8,996.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 80.90 points or 0.88 percent to 9,258.30. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is advancing more than 3 percent and Fortescue is adding more than 1 percent, while Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Santos is adding more than 1 percent, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Appen is gaining almost 2 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent. Zip is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.5 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining almost 2 percent, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are adding more than 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is adding almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing more than 4 percent, while Newmont and Evolution Mining are gaining almost 2 percent each. Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Super Retail are jumping almost 13 percent after it posted record annual sales of $4.1 billion, up 4.5 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in August, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.9. That's up from 51.3 in July and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI improved to 55.1 in August from 54.1 in July. Also, the composite PMI climbed to 54.9 from 53.8 a month earlier.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.642 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is trading notably lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 42,650 level, with weakness in index heavyweights, automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 42,640.56, down 247.99 points or 0.58 percent, after hitting a low of 42,599.07 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing 2.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 1 percent, while Honda is down almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 3 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony and Panasonic are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent. Canon is gaining 1.5 percent.

Among other major losers, Daiichi Sankyo is losing more than 6 percent.

Conversely, Mitsui Mining & Smelting is skyrocketing almost 12 percent, Mitsubishi Chemical is gaining almost 4 percent, Mitsui Chemicals is adding more than 3 percent and Asahi Kasei is advancing almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in August, although at a slower rate, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.9. That's up from 48.9 in July, although it remains just barely beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI slipped to 52.7 in August from 53.6 in July. Also, the composite index ticked up to 51.9 from 51.6 a month earlier.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 147 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.2 and 1.2 percent each. Indonesia is bucking the trend and is down 0.4 percent. Singapore is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks regained ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday after moving sharply higher early in the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, although the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 remained in negative territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day down 142.10 points or 0.7 percent at 21,172.86 after plunging by as much as 1.9 percent in early trading. The S&P 500 also dipped 15.59 points or 0.2 percent to 6,395.78, while the Dow inched up 16.04 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 44,938.31.

The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index shot up 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index slid 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration said crude oil inventories in the U.S. decreased much more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.79 or 1.3 percent at $63.14 a barrel.