Asian Markets Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders react to softer-than-expected US jobs data in the month of June that eased concerns about the interest rate outlook. Higher crude oil and bullion prices also triggered strong buying in energy and materials sectors. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.

While the US Fed is still widely expected to raise rates by another quarter point later this month, the outlook for further rate hikes is likely to be impacted by next week's US inflation data.

"A softer jobs report than widely expected has taken some of the steam out of recent market moves, but the labor market remains too tight for the Fed to relax," said ING Chief International Economist James Knightley.

The Australian stock market is paring all the gains earlier on Monday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with traders reacting to some weaker-than-expected economic data out of China. Energy stocks are standing out. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 5.80 points or 0.08 percent to 7,036.50, after touching a high of 7,085.20 and a low of 7,039.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 4.70 points or 0.07 percent to 7,239.40. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos, Beach energy and Woodside Energy are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Xero and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Appen is gaining more than 1 percent, Afterpay owner Block is advancing almost 4 percent and Zip is adding almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is adding more than 1 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.668 on Monday. The Japanese stock market is notably lower on Monday after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous four sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 32,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness across most sectors, led by losses in technology and heavyweight stocks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 32,173.88, down 214.54 or 0.66 percent, after hitting a low of 32,082.94 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing 2.5 percent and Toyota is declining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are losing almost 2 percent each, while Advantest is declining more than 1 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.4 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Sony is losing more than 1 percent and Panasonic is declining more than 2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are flat.

Among other major losers, Yaskawa Electric isand Subaru are losing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 142 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 1.2 percent, while China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.3 and 0.6 percent each. New Zealand is bucking the trend and is down 0.5 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks saw substantial volatility over the course of the trading session on Friday, with the major averages showing wild swings back and forth across the unchanged line following the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report.

The major averages moved to the downside going into the close and ended the day in negative territory. The Dow slid 187.38 points or 0.6 percent to 33,734.88, the Nasdaq edged down 18.37 points or 0.1 percent to 13,660.72 and the S&P 500 dipped 12.64 points or 0.3 percent to 4,398.95.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday, continuing to find support from the recent data showing a big drop in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.06 or about 2.9 percent at $73.86 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained about 4.6 percent in the week.