Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid optimism that a number of trade deals will be worked out prior to US President Donald Trump's August 1 deadline after the U.S. and the European Union ratified a trade agreement over the weekend, with 15 percent tariffs on most European exports, including cars. Asian markets closed mostly lower Friday.

India and South Korea are reportedly making progress in clinching a fair deal with the U.S. on tariffs, with major US trading partners the UK, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Philippines, and more recently, Japan securing a trading framework agreement.

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Monday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying above the 8,650.00 level, with gains in gold miners and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in iron ore miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 13.10 points or 0.15 percent to 8,680.00, after touching a high of 8,704.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 11.70 points or 0.13 percent to 8,946.00. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP Group are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining more than 5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is losing almost 2 percent, while Santos is edging down 0.3 percent and Beach energy is declining more than 1 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 3 percent and Xero is edging up 0.1 percent. WiseTech Global and Zip are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Appen is losing almost 3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is adding more than 1 percent and Newmont is advancing more than 4 percent, while Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. Westpac is flat.

In other news, shares in Boss Energy are crashing 43 percent after the uranium miner flagged potential challenges at its Honeymoon project.

Shares in Helloworld Travel are jumping more than 13 percent after upgrading its full-year earnings guidance, despite softer booking volumes. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.657 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 falling well below the 41,200 level, with weakness across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 41,148.07, down 308.16 points or 0.74 percent, after hitting a low of 41,072.15 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling more than 8 percent, Tokyo Electron is losing more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is declining more than 5 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are losing more than 1 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining almost 2 percent.

The major exporters are mixed. Panasonic is adding more than 1 percent and Canon is gaining almost 1 percent, while Sony is losing more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down almost 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Resona Holdings is losing more than 3 percent and NEC is declining almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Fanuc is surging more than 5 percent, while Recruit Holdings and Tokyo Electric Power are gaining almost 3 percent each.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia and Hong Kong are up 1.4 and 1.0 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each, while South Korea and Singapore are down 0.4 and 0.3 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, the markets put together a solid performance on the final day of the trading week, which saw the Dow reverse losses from the previous session and the NASDAQ and S&P 500 hit fresh record closing highs. The markets opened slightly to the upside on Friday and continued to tick higher as the day progressed.

The Dow jumped 208.01 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 44,901.92, while the NASDAQ gained 50.36 points or 0.24 percent to close at 21,108.32 and the S&P 500 improved 25.29 points or 0.40 percent to end at 6,388.64.

The European markets closed mixed on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX closed lower by 0.26 percent and 0.41 percent, respectively and France's CAC 40 ended up 0.17 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday on reports that the U.S. might allow partners of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA to resume operations, sparking concerns of over-supply. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery closed, down $0.88 or 1.33 percent to $65.15 per barrel.