Asian Markets Trading Mixed

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, on continued optimism about the US Fed slowing the pace of interest rate hikes following recent tamer-than-expected US inflation data. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

On the heels of the inflation data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 80.6 percent chance the Fed will raise rates by 50 basis points next month compared to the recent 75 basis point rate hikes.

Meanwhile, Fed Governor Christopher Waller has warned investors about getting too optimistic over one inflation report, and noted that the central bank "still got a ways to go" with policy tightening.

The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,200 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, led by gains in resources and energy stocks amid the spike in commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 3.80 points or 0.05 percent to 7,161.80, after touching a high of 7,196.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.00 points or 0.19 percent to 7,364.10. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are gaining more than 5 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is soaring more than 9 percent, OZ Minerals is up almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is adding almost 5 percent.

Oil stocks are higher. Beach energy and Origin Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is advancing almost 2 percent and Santos is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 4 percent and Appen is adding more than 3 percent. WiseTech Global and Xero are losing almost 1 percent each, while Zip is declining almost 2 percent.

Gold miners are weak. Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are losing more than 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.3 percent and Resolute Mining is plunging almost 9 percent. Gold Road Resources is gaining 1.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is declining more than 2 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are down almost 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.669 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is notably lower on Monday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 28,100 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders booked profits following the strong gains in the previous session. Financial stocks are weak.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 28,047.58, down 215.99 or 0.76 percent, after hitting a low of 28,043.33 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is plummeting almost 11 percent after its subsidiary posted a huge quarterly loss, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.5 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing more than 2 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging down 0.2 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is declining 1.5 percent.

The major exporters are mixed, with Sony edging up 0.1 percent, while Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are flat. Among the other major losers, Dowa Holdings is plummeting more than 14 percent, Olympus is plunging almost 9 percent and Dai Nippon Printing is sliding more than 7 percent, while Fujikura, Nikon, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust and Mitsubishi Motors are losing more than 4 percent each. Taisei and Toppan are declining almost 4 percent each, while Daiichi Sankyo, Aozora Bank, Seven & I Holdings, Sumitomo Heavy Industries and NTN are down more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Shiseido is surging almost 6 percent and Toto is gaining more than 5 percent, while M3, Casio Computer and NTT Data are adding more than 3 percent each. Nidec and Hoya are up almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 139 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is surging 2.1 percent, while Singapore and Taiwan are up 1.1 percent each. China is adding 0.3 percent. New Zealand, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. On Wall Street, stocks saw further upside during trading on Friday following the remarkable rally seen over the course of Thursday's session. With the extended upward move, the Dow reached a nearly three-month closing high, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 jumped to their best closing levels in almost two months.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 209.18 points or 1.9 percent to 11,323.33, the S&P 500 shot up 36.56 points or 0.9 percent to 3,992.93 and the Dow rept up 32.49 points or 0.1 percent to 33,747.86.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both climbed by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices spiked on Friday, supported by a weak dollar and reports about China cutting quarantine restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $2.49 or 2.9 percent at $88.96 a barrel.