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, amid easing concerns about the ongoing trade war after US President Donald Trump unveiled the framework of a trade agreement with the U.K. The Japanese markets are leading regional gains amid hopes that the country will reach a trade agreement with the U.S. in June. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

The trade agreement with the U.K. is the first major agreement since the U.S. imposed widespread tariffs earlier this year. It also signaled upcoming talks with China this week would be more substantial than initially thought.

The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Friday after opening in the red, adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,200 level, with gains in technology and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 39.70 points or 0.49 percent to 8,231.40, after touching a high of 8,231.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 39.70 points or 0.47 percent to 8,461.40. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is down almost 1 percent, while BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 1 percent each. Mineral Resources is edging up 0.4 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, Beach energy is advancing more than 2 percent, Santos is gaining more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block and Appen are surging more than 5 percent each, while WiseTech Global and Zip are adding more than 2 percent each. Xero is up more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is adding almost 1 percent and National Australia Bank is edging up 0.3 percent, while ANZ Banking is edging down 0.4 percent. Commonwealth Bank is flat. Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining, Northern Star Resources and Newmont are losing more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is declining 2.5 percent. Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.2 percent.

In other news, shares in Avita Medical slumped almost 19 percent despite reaffirming expectations for a 55 percent to 65 per cent jump in full-year commercial revenue after the wound care product provider reported significant growth in both new and existing customer accounts.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.639 on Friday.

Extending the gains in the previous session, the Japanese market is sharply higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving up to near the 37,500 level, with gains across all sectors led by index heavyweights and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,478.58, up 549.95 points or 1.49 percent, after touching a high of 37,481.52 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Thursday.

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 1 percent and Honda is advancing almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining 1.5 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.5 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Sony, Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Panasonic adding almost 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, NTT Data skyrocketing more than 14 percent, while Kao and Ajinomoto are surging more than 6 percent each. Shiseido, OKUMA and Renesas Electronics are gaining more than 4 percent each, while Resona Holdings, IHI and Sumitomo Pharma are adding almost 4 percent each. Toray Industries and BANDAI NAMCO are advancing more than 3 percent each. Socionext and Fuji Electric are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Daikin Industries is losing almost 5 percent, while Omron and Trend Micro are declining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the average of household spending in Japan was up 2.1 percent on year in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday - coming in at 290,511 yen. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent following the 0.5 percent fall in the previous month.

The average of monthly income per household stood at 571,993 yen, down 2.3 percent in real terms from the previous year. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, household spending rose 0.4 percent - again beating forecasts for a decline of 0.5 percent following the 3.5 percent jump in February.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 145 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 1.0 percent each, while China and South Korea are down 0.2 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a strong performance throughout much of the trading day on Thursday after moving mostly higher early in the session, but giving back some ground going into the close.

The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session but still finished the session firmly in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 189.98 points or 1.1 percent to 17,928.14, the Dow advanced 254.48 points or 0.6 percent to 41,368.45 and the S&P 500 climbed 32.66 points or 0.6 percent at 5,663.94.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned mixed over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent.

Crude oil prices rallied on Thursday following news of the trade agreement between the United States and Great Britain. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery surged $1.84 or 3.2 percent to $59.91 a barrel.