Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are optimistic about an end to the tariff uncertainty after US President Donald Trump made it clear that he will not extend the August 1 deadline for trade deals, though he gets aggressive with tariff imposition. They are also optimistic about a potential trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union. Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the US Fed's minutes of its June monetary policy meeting revealed that most participants generally agree the central bank is well positioned to wait for more clarity on the outlook for inflation and the economy before adjusting interest rates.

The Fed's "wait and see" approach comes as participants said economic growth and the labor market remain solid and described monetary policy as moderately or modestly restrictive.

The Australian market is trading notably higher on Thursday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,600 level, with gains across all sectors led by technology and mining stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 63.80 points or 0.75 percent to 8,602.40, after touching a high of 8,602.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 61.20 points or 0.61 percent to 8,839.10. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.5 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding more than 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is edging down 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are edging down 0.1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is adding more than 2 percent, while Xero is down almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is edging down 0.4 percent, Zip is declining almost 2 percent and Appen is losing more than 1 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining, Evolution Mining and Newmont are adding almost 3 percent each. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.654 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is trading notably lower on Thursday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling to near the 39,600 level, with weakness in exporter stocks and a mixed performance in most other sectors.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,610.61, down 210.67 points or 0.53 percent, after hitting a low of 39,547.26 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent, while Honda is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.5 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is declining almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.4 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing almost 3 percent, Canon is declining more than 2 percent, Panasonic is slipping more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, BayCurrent is surging almost 5 percent, Rakuten Group is gaining more than 4 percent and Disco is adding almost 4 percent.

Conversely, Tokyo Electric Power and Nikon are losing more than 3 percent each, while Sharp and Konica Minolta are slipping almost 3 percent each.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.2 and 1.1 percent each, while New Zealand, Hong Kong and Malaysia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday after ending Tuesday's choppy trading session little changed. The major averages gave back ground after an early advance but moved back to the upside as the day progressed, closing firmly in positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 192.87 points or 0.9 percent to a new record closing high of 20,611.34, the S&P 500 climbed 37.74 points or 0.6 percent to 6,263.26 and the Dow rose 217.54 points or 0.5 percent to 44,458.30.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both jumped by 1.4 percent.

Crude oil prices inched higher on Wednesday, as Saudi projections for increased demand were offset by a jump in U.S. oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery ticked higher by $0.05 to settle at $68.38 per barrel.