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, boosted by Hong Kong and Japanese markets amid improved outlook for interest rates after US consumer price inflation for July came in line with expectations. The U.S. and China also confirmed a 90-day extension of their trade truce. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

Following the release of the US inflation report, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 94.4 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by a quarter point in September.

Australian shares are trading notably lower on Wednesday after opening in the green, reversing the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling well below the 8,850 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in energy and financial stocks partially offset by gains in mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 48.90 points or 0.55 percent to 8,831.90, after touching a high of 8,890.50 and a low of 8,815.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 43.10 points or 0.47 percent to 9,107.20. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is down more than 1 percent, Santos is edging down 0.3 percent and Beach energy is declining 2.5 percent. Woodside Energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent, Zip is advancing more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is adding 1.5 percent and Appen is up almost 1 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia bank is declining more than 4 percent. ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is surging more than 5 percent on upbeat full-year results, Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.5 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Newmont are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

In other news, shares in Tyro Payments are jumping more than 8 percent after it said it had received unsolicited and non-binding interest from separate parties regarding a potential acquisition.

Shares in AGL Energy are tumbling almost 12 percent amid downbeat full-year results due to lower wholesale power prices and tightening retail margins amid fierce competition.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous six sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving a tad above the 43,300 level to fresh record all-time highs, with gains across all sectors led by exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 43,301.07, up 582.90 points or 1.36 percent, after touching fresh all-time highs high of 43,309.62 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining 1.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 1 percent and Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are advancing more than 2 percent each, while Screen Holdings is slipping almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric, Canon and Panasonic are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Sony is surging more than 5 percent.

Among other major gainers, Yokohama Rubber is skyrocketing more than 9 percent and Renesas Electronics is soaring more than 6 percent, while Hino Motors and Tokyo Electric Power are surging more than 5 percent each. Socionext and Fanuc are gaining more than 4 percent each, while Recruit Holdings, Furukawa Electric, Terumo, TDK and Yaskawa Electric are adding more than 3 percent each. Taiyo Yuden, Komatsu and Nippon Express are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 0.2 percent on month in July, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday. That was in line with expectations following the upwardly revised 0.1 percent contraction in June (originally -0.2 percent). On a yearly basis, producer prices rose 2.6 percent - exceeding forecasts for 2.5 percent and down from 2.9 percent in the previous month.

Export prices were up 0.3 percent on month and down 1.1 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices rose 1.1 percent on month and slumped 5.1 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 1.5 percent, while New Zealand, China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.2 and 0.9 percent each.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Tuesday after ending Monday's choppy trading session moderately lower. The major averages more than offset the losses posted in the previous session, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages ended the session near their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq surged 296.50 points or 1.4 percent to 21,681.90, the S&P 500 jumped 72.31 points or 1.1 percent to 6,445.76 and the Dow shot up 483.52 points or 1.1 percent to 44,458.61.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in another mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday ahead of an upcoming meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents on Friday in Alaska. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.88 or 1.38 percent at $63.08 per barrel.