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, as weaker than expected U.S. consumer price inflation and producer price inflation data as well as recent downbeat monthly jobs data have reinforced expectations of a US Fed rate cut at next week's meeting. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

Following the reports, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating 92.5 percent chance the Federal Reserve will lower rates by a quarter-point next week and a slim 7.5 percent chance of a half- point rate cut.

The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Friday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to be just below the 8,850 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Energy stocks were the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 67.80 points or 0.77 percent to 8,872.80, after touching a high of 8,851.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 67.30 points or 0.74 percent to 9,138.70. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent,Mineral Resources is advancing more than 2 percent, Rio Tinto is adding almost 1 percent and Fortescue is edging up 0.4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is declining almost 3 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are losing more than 1 percent each. Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent and Appen is advancing more than 4 percent, while afterpay-owner Block, Zip and Xero are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Westpac is adding 1.5 percent.

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

In other news, shares in BSP Financial, also known as Bank South Pacific, are jumping more than 10 percent after it announced that the Papua New Guinea prime minister had assured the bank that it would continue to service and maintain government accounts.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.666 on Friday.

Extending the gains in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is notably higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 44,650 level, with gains in automakers, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 44,694.65, up 322.15 points or 0.73 percent, after touching a high of 44,888.02 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.2 percent and Honda is adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 3 percent, while Screen Holdings is losing almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Sony is gaining almost 1 percent, Canon is edging up 0.2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is advancing almost 3 percent, while Panasonic is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among other major gainers, Resonac Holdings is surging 4.5 percent, while Konica Minolta and Socionext are gaining more than 3 percent each. Yokohama Rubber is advancing almost 3 percent.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 1.3 percent each. Singapore is down 0.1 percent. New Zealand is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Thursday, with the major averages all moving notably higher following the mixed performance seen during Wednesday's session. With the upward move, the major averages all reached new record closing highs.

The major averages finished the session just off their best levels of the day. The Dow surged 617.08 points or 1.4 percent to 46,108.00, the S&P 500 jumped 55.43 points or 0.9 percent to 6,587.47 and the Nasdaq advanced 157.01 points or 0.7 percent to 22,043.07.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both advanced by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Thursday, triggered by the International Energy Agency's monthly report that boosted the supply estimate for 2025 and 2026, indicating a glut. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery sank $1.22 or 1.92 percent at $62.45 per barrel.