Asian Markets Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders reacted to another US Labor Department report showing an unexpected decrease in producer prices in the month of July, raising hopes that inflation in the U.S. may have peaked, which could allow the Fed to slow the pace of interest rate increases. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

However, comments from Fed officials seemed to downplay the data, with Chicago Fed President Charles Evans saying inflation remains "unacceptably high."

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari also said the Fed is "far, far away from declaring victory" on inflation and that the U.S. central bank will need to raise its policy rate another 1.5 percentage points this year and more in 2023, even if that causes a recession.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Friday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,000 mark, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in technology stocks partially offset by small gains in financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 36.10 points or 0.51 percent to 7,034.90, after hitting a low of 7,016.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 34.80 points or 0.48 percent to 7,290.60. Australian markets ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent. Rio Tinto is edging up 0.1 percent and OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Beach energy and Woodside Energy are gaining more than 1 percent each. Santos is flat.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global and Zip are losing almost 2 percent each, while Appen is slipping almost 3 percent, Xero is declining more than 2 percent and Afterpay owner Block is sliding almost 4 percent. Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is losing more than 1 percent. ANZ Banking is adding almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining 3.5 percent. Gold Road Resources is losing more than 2 percent, while Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are down more than 1 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.710 on Friday.

The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Friday, recouping the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 surging 650 points to be just below the 28,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are reacting to the tamer than expected US inflation data after the market holiday on Thursday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 28,479.99, up 660.66 points or 2.37 percent, after touching a high of 28,507.31 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly lower on Wednesday prior to the holiday on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging more than 7 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 3 percent and Toyota is adding almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 3 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding more than 4 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing almost 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 2 percent, Mizuho Financial is adding 1.5 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is up more than 1 percent.

Among major exporters, Canon and Panasonic are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are adding more than 1 percent each.

Among the other major gainers, Dowa Holdings is soaring almost 11 percent and Pacific Metals is surging more than 8 percent, while Rakuten Group and Nippon Express are climbing almost 7 percent each. Tokyo Tatemono and Japan Steel Works are gaining more than 5 percent each, while Fanuc, JGC Holdings, Minebea Mitsumi, Keyence, Toyota Tsusho, Hitachi and Olympus are adding more than 4 percent each.

Conversely, DeNA and Oki Electric Industry are losing more than 5 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 133 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each. Singapore is slipping 1 percent, while New Zealand and Indonesia are down 0.1 and 0.4 percent, respectively. On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside in early trading on Thursday but gave back ground over the course of the session. The major averages showed a notable downturn after reaching their best intraday levels in three months.

The major averages eventually finished the day mixed. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped as much as 1.3 percent but ended the day down 74.89 points or 0.6 percent to 12,779.92. The S&P 500 also edged down 2.97 points or 0.1 percent to 4,207.27, while the narrower Dow inched up 27.16 points or 0.1 percent to 33,336.67.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Thursday on rising hopes for energy demand after the International Energy Agency lifted its demand outlook. The dollar's weakness following the soft inflation data also contributed to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures ended higher by $2.41 or 2.6 percent at $94.34 a barrel.