Asian Markets Trade Mixed

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Monday, following the mixed cues from global markets on Friday. Although optimism about the outlook for interest rates continued to support the markets, hopes for near-term interest rate cuts were shot down by comments from New York Fed President John Williams. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

Williams told CNBC's "Squawk Box" the Fed is not "really talking about rate cuts right now" and is focused on whether monetary policy is sufficiently restrictive to ensure inflation comes back down to 2 percent.

Nonetheless, the chances of a quarter point rate cut in March have jumped to 62.4 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Monday, snapping the six-session winning streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,200.00 level, following the mixed cues from global markets on Friday, with weakness across most sectors led by energy stocks, partially offset by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 30.60 points or 0.41 percent to 7,412.10, after hitting a low of 7,406.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 27.10 points or 0.35 percent to 7,634.80. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent, Santos is down more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.3 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global and Xero are edging up 0.5 percent each, while Appen is adding almost 5 percent and Zip is gaining almost 1 percent. Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly weak. Gold Road Resources, Evolution Mining and Newmont are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Link Group are soaring more than 27 percent after the troubled superannuation and share registry administrator announced Mitsubishi UFJ is set to acquire the company for $2.10 cash a share, plus pay a dividend of 16 cents, which will be franked at 25 percent.

Shares in Adbri are also skyrocketing more than 33 percent after CRH and major shareholder Barro Group agreed to buy the building materials company for $3.20 per share, valuing Adbri at $2.1 billion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.671 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Monday, giving up the gains in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 32,700 level, following the mixed cues from global markets on Friday, with losses across most sectors, led by exporters and financial stocks.

Traders cautiously await the Bank of Japan's final monetary policy meeting of the year later in the week, with the central bank expected to maintain its ultra-dovish stance.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 32,620.75, down 349.80 points or 1.06 percent, after hitting a low of 32,541.23 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 2 percent and Toyota is down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Advantest is declining 2.5 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing more than 3 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 3 percent and Mizuho Financial is down almost 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Canon is losing more than 1 percent and Panasonic is down almost 2 percent, while Sony is declining almost 3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is slipping more than 3 percent.

Among other major losers, Sharp and Sumitomo Realty & Development are losing more than 4 percent each, while Mitsubishi Materials, Mitsui Fudosan, Toppan Holdings, Tokyu Fudosan, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust, NEXON, Chubu Electric Power, Tokyo Electric Power, Dai Nippon Printing, Keisei Electric Railway, Renesas Electronics, Concordia Financial and Recruit Holdings are all declining almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, Nippon Yusen K.K. and Nissan Chemical are gaining more than 4 percent each, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is adding almost 4 percent. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is up more than 3 percent and CyberAgent is advancing almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 142 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, South Korea and Malaysia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.2 percent each, while Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.7 percent each. On Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Friday after moving notably higher over the past several sessions. Despite the choppy trading, the Dow reached another new record closing high.

The Dow edged up 56.81 points or 0.2 percent to 37,305.16, closing higher for the seventh consecutive session. The Nasdaq also climbed 52.36 points or 0.4 percent to a nearly two-year closing high of 14,813.92, while the S&P 500 edged down 0.36 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,719.19.

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 closed nearly unchanged and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.0 percent.

Crude oil posted their first weekly gain in two months despite settling on a slightly weak note on Friday. An upward revision in oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency and a weak dollar pushed up crude oil prices over the past few sessions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January eased $0.15 at $71.43 a barrel on Friday but added 0.2% for the week.