Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Following the mostly positive cues from global markets overnight, Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, as traders reacted to the latest remarks from US Fed officials that helped ease recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates. Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated during remarks at Stanford University that the central bank is not in a hurry to begin lowering interest rates, but reaffirmed his view that they will likely cut interest rates this year. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

The Australian market is notably higher on Thursday, recouping the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mostly positive cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 7,800 level, with gains in gold miners, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 36.20 points or 0.47 percent to 7,818.70, after touching a high of 7,834.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 38.80 points or 0.48 percent to 8,072.40. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is losing more than 1 percent. Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent, while Beach energy and Santos are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

In the tech space, Appen is surging more than 7 percent and Afterpay owner Block is adding almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining almost 2 percent each. Zip is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are adding almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent, Newmont is edging up 0.4 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing more than 3 percent, while Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are adding almost 1 percent each.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in March, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Thursday with a services PMI score of 54.4. That's up from 53.1 in February, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Meanwhile, the total number of building approvals issued in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent on month in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at 12,520. That missed expectations for an increase of 3.0 percent following the 1.0 percent drop in January. On a yearly basis, overall approvals fell 5.8 percent. The value of total building approved fell 16.5 percent, following a 14.5 percent January increase.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.658 on Thursday.

Recouping the losses in the previous session, the Japanese market is sharply higher on Thursday, following the mostly positive cues from global markets overnight. The Nikkei 225 is surging above the 40,100 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 40,101.82, up 649.97 points or 1.65 percent, after touching a high of 40,243.02 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 2 percent and Honda is also adding more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are gaining almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is adding almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining more than 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 3 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon and Sony are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are adding more than 1 percent each.

Among other major gainers, Socionext is skyrocketing almost 13 percent, DeNA is soaring more than 9 percent and Sumitomo Metal Mining is surging more than 7 percent, while Tokyo Electric Power and Fujikura are advancing almost 6 percent each. Kao, Ebara and Mitsubishi Materials are gaining almost 5 percent each, while Fanuc, Sumco, Nitto Denko, Konami Group, Taiyo Yuden, Mitsui Mining & Smelting and TDK are adding almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 151 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are higher by between 0.4 and 1.0 percent each, while New Zealand is bucking the trend and is down 0.2 percent. China and Hong Kong are closed for the Ching Ming Festival, and Taiwan is also shuttered for Children's Day.

On Wall Street, stocks recovered from an initial move to the downside and spent most of Wednesday's trading session in positive territory. Buying interest waned in the latter part of the session, however, with the major averages eventually ending the day narrowly mixed.

While the Dow edged down 43.10 points or 0.1 percent to 39,127.14, closing lower for the third consecutive session, the S&P 500 crept up 5.68 points or 0.1 percent to 5,211.49 and the Nasdaq rose 37.00 points or 0.2 percent to 16,277.46.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Wednesday after OPEC ended its meeting without making any changes to its production policy. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.28 or 0.33 percent at $85.43 a barrel.