Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the markets rebounding as investors shrugged off the US Fed's indication that an interest rate cut in March is unlikely after a sell-off on Wednesday. Markets in South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia were up well above 1 percent. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

Recouping the losses in the previous session, the Australian stock market is sharply higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving a tad above the 7,700 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 112.40 points or 1.48 percent to 7,700.60, after touching a high of 7,701.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 112.40 points or 1.44 percent to 7,931.20. Australian markets ended sharply lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.5 percent and Mineral Resources is gaining almost 2 percent, while Fortescue Metals and BHP Group are adding more than 1 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly weak. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.1 percent each, while Santos is edging up 0.5 percent. Beach energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is gaining more than 2 percent, Zip is adding almost 1 percent, Afterpay owner Block is advancing almost 3 percent and Xero is up almost 2 percent, while Appen is losing more than 4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources and Newmont are adding more than 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 3 percent. Resolute Mining is losing 2.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Pinnacle Investment are soaring more than 9 percent after the asset manager reported affiliates' funds under management topped $100 billion in December.

Shares in Boss Energy and Paladin Energy are surging more than 6 percent after a new uranium price rally, with the spot price nearing 16-year highs.

In economic news, the value of owner-occupied home loans in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 5.6 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday - coming in at A$16.77 billion. That followed the 0.5 percent increase in November. Overall home loans slipped 4.1 percent on month to A$26.27 billion. On a yearly basis, owner-occupied loans rose 7.4 percent, investment lending surged 20.4 percent and overall lending was up 11.7 percent.

The ABS also said producer prices in Australia were up 0.9 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 1.9 percent following the 1.8 percent gain in the previous three months. On a yearly basis, producer prices climbed 4.1 percent, roughly in line with forecasts and up from 3.8 percent in the third quarter.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.660 on Friday.

Recouping most of the losses in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 36,300 level, with gains across most sectors led by some index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 36,370.68, up 359.22 points or 1.00 percent, after touching a high of 36,441.09 earlier. Japanese stocks closed significantly lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.3 percent and Toyota is also edging down 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 4 percent, Screen Holdings is adding 4.5 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.1 percent and Canon is losing almost 1 percent, while Sony is gaining almost 1 percent and Panasonic is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among other major gainers, NEXON is skyrocketing almost 22 percent, Konica Minolta is soaring more than 11 percent, Konami Group is surging almost 6 percent, Mitsui Mining & Smelting is gaining almost 5 percent, CyberAgent is adding more than 4 percent and J. Front Retailing is advancing almost 4 percent, while Toto, Fujitsu and Nissan Chemical are rising more than 3 percent each. Tokyo Electric Power, Shin-Etsu Chemical and BANDAI NAMCO are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Aozora Bank is plunging more than 15 percent, Mitsubishi Motors is slipping almost 7 percent and Hino Motors in losing more than 4 percent, while T&D Holdings and Dai-ichi Life Holdings are declining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the monetary base in Japan was up 4.8 percent on year in January, the Bank of Japan said on Friday - coming in at 668.019 trillion yen. That was well shy of expectations for an increase of 7.5 percent and down from 8.2 percent in December. The adjusted monetary base tumbled 12.1 percent to 673.007 trillion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 146 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is up 2.1 percent, while Hong Kong and Singapore are up 1.4 percent each. New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each. China is bucking the trend and is down 0.2 percent. On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Thursday following the sell-off seen in the previous session. The major averages fluctuated early in the session but climbed firmly into positive territory as the day progressed.

The major averages finished the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 369.54 points or 1.0 percent to 38,519.84, the Nasdaq surged 197.63 points or 1.3 percent to 15,361.64 and the S&P 500 shot up 60.54 points or 1.3 percent to 4,906.19.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday with traders following the negotiations of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, although a possible pick-up in energy demand helped limit the downside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March sank $2.03 or 2.7 percent at $73.82 a barrel.