Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious ahead of the release of a barrage of US economic data after the US House of Representatives voted on a bill to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The end to the impasse would enable the US Fed to gauge the economy precisely well ahead of its December meeting. Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

The markets and the US Fed were flying blind with no reliable economic data especially on inflation and jobs. Based on the private data releases so far, traders are currently betting on a 65.4% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut by the Fed, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

The Australian market is trading significantly lower on Thursday, adding to the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,750 level, with weakness is financial, energy and technology stocks partially offset by gains in gold miner stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 80.10 points or 0.91 percent to 8,719.40, after hitting a low of 8,701.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 78.00 points or 0.86 percent to 9,001.40. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent and Fortescue is advancing more than 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is edging down 0.3 percent. Mineral Resources is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy and Santos are losing more than 2 percent each, while Woodside Energy is declining almost 3 percent and Origin Energy is down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, Appen is down more than 2 percent, Zip is slipping almost 3 percent, Xero is tumbling more than 6 percent and WiseTech Global is declining more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is tumbling 5.5 percent, National Australia Bank is declining almost 2 percent and Westpac is down more than 2 percent, while Commonwealth Bank is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are advancing almost 2 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is rising 1.5 percent, Resolute Mining is gaining almost 3 percent and Newmont is adding more than 3 percent.

In economic news, the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.3 percent in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. That was below expectations for 4.4 percent and down from 4.5 percent in September. The participation rate was unchanged at 67.0 percent.

The Australian economy added 42.2K jobs last month, blowing away expectations for an increase of 20K jobs following the increase of 14.9K in the previous month. Full-time employment increased by 55,300 to 10,141,600 people, while part-time employment decreased by 13,100 to 4,541,600 people.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.656 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is notably higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 51,250 level, with gains across most sectors led by technology and financial stocks. Index heavyweights were weak.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 51,166.78, up 103.47 points or 0.20 percent, after touching a high of 51,338.89 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.2 percent and Honda is also edging up 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are advancing more than 3 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are adding almost 3 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is up more than 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Canon is edging up 0.5 percent. Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, M3 is skyrocketing more than 23 percent, Isuzu Motors is soaring almost 12 percent, Furukawa Electric is surging more than 9 percent and Haseko is jumping more than 7 percent, while Sumitomo Pharma, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Renesas Electronics and Orix is adding more than 5 percent each. Shimizu is gaining more than 4 percent and Fujikura is advancing almost 4 percent, while Tokyo Electric Power, Nomura Holdings, Tokyo Gas and Kansai Electric Power are up more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Kuraray and Terumo are losing more than 4 percent each.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 2.7 percent on year in October, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 2.5 percent and was unchanged from the September reading. On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.4 percent - easing from the upwardly revised 0.5 percent gain in the previous month (originally 0.3 percent).

Export prices were up 1.0 percent on month and 1.2 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices rose 0.7 percent on month and fell 2.5 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 154 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea are lower by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each. China, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.3 percent each. Indonesia is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, the major stock indexes once again moved in opposite directions during trading on Wednesday following the mixed performance seen during Tuesday's session. While the Dow climbed to a near record closing high, the tech-heavy Nasdaq showed another moderate move to the downside.

The Nasdaq fell 61.84 points or 0.3 percent to 23,406.46, but the S&P 500 inched up 4.31 points or 0.1 percent to 6,850.92 and the Dow climbed 326.86 points or 0.7 percent to 48,254.82.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index surged by 1.2 percent.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday after OPEC's monthly report suggested that global supply now exceeds demand by about 500,000 barrels per day. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $2.62 or 4.31 percent at $58.40 per barrel.