Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid optimism about earlier interest rate cuts by the US Fed after US consumer confidence deteriorated by more than expected in the month of March. Traders are also optimistic about some tariff exemptions by the US administration as they seek greater clarity on the next round of tariffs. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

Trump said at an event on Monday that he "may give a lot of countries breaks" on reciprocal tariffs that are set to take effect April 2.

Australian shares are trading significantly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous four sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving a tad above the 8,000 mark, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors led by mining and financial stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 61.90 points or 0.78 percent to 8,004.40, after touching a high of 8,014.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 61.40 points or 0.75 percent to 8,228.10. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is advancing almost 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are adding more than 1 percent each, while Santos is up almost 2 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Appen is advancing almost 4 percent, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.4 percent and Zip is adding almost 3 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent and Xero is down almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding almost 3 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is edging up 0.5 percent, Resolute Mining is advancing almost 5 percent, Newmont is gaining almost 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is adding more than 2 percent, while Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

In economic news, Australia's monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 2.4 percent on year in February 2025, down from a four-month high of 2.5 percent in the previous month, and below market expectations of 2.5 percent. This marked the lowest inflation rate since November 2024. The annual trimmed mean inflation edged down to 2.7 percent from 2.8 percent in January.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.630 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading notably higher on Wednesday, adding to the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 38,000 mark, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks. Automakers were the only weak spot.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,890.15, up 109.61 points or 0.29 percent, after touching a high of 38,151.39 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.3 percent, Screen Holdings is adding almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.2 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.2 percent. Mizuho Financial is flat.

Among the major exporters, Canon is edging up 0.2 percent, Sony is gaining 2.5 percent, Panasonic is adding almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is advancing almost 4 percent.

Among other major gainers, Nintendo is surging almost 6 percent, while Sumitomo Metal Mining and DeNA are gaining more than 3 percent each. Konami Group is adding almost 3 percent.

Conversely, NEXON is losing almost 5 percent and Mitsui Chemicals is declining almost 3 percent.

In economic news, Producer prices in Japan were flat on month in February, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday - after slipping 0.5 percent in January. On a yearly basis, producer prices were up 3.0 percent, easing from an upwardly revised 3.2 percent in the previous month (originally 3.1 percent). Excluding international transportation, producer prices were up 0.1 percent on month and 3.1 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 150 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia and New Zealand are up 3.0 to 1.2 percent, respectively. Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia, are higher by between 0.2 and 0.6 percent each. Taiwan is bucking the trend and is down 0.1 percent. China is relatively flat.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday following the rally seen in the previous session. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing in positive territory for the third straight day.

The Nasdaq climbed 83.26 points or 0.5 percent to 18,271.86, the S&P 500 rose 9.08 points or 0.2 percent to 5,776.65 and the Dow inched up 4.18 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 42,587.50.

The major European markets also all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both jumped by 1.1 percent.

Crude oil prices dipped on Tuesday on reports Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a partial ceasefire covering the Black Sea. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May closed lower by $0.11 at $69.00 a barrel.