Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders continue to bet on further reductions in interest rates by the US Fed, and on hopes about more stimulus measures from the Chinese government to spur growth in the world’s second largest economy. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

The Australian stock market is modestly higher in choppy trading on Friday, adding to the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,200 level, with gains mining and technology stocks partially offset losses in financial and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 4.90 points or 0.06 percent to 8,208.60, after touching a high of 8,225.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 9.50 points or 0.11 percent to 8,472.30. Australian markets ended significantly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Mineral Resources is soaring more than 9 percent and Fortescue Metals is surging almost 5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Santos are losing more than 2 percent each, while Beach energy is down 1.5 percent, while Origin Energy is declining almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Xero is adding almost 1 percent and Appen is gaining more than 1 percent. Zip is losing almost 2 percent.

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

Gold miners are mixed. Resolute Mining is down more than 1 percent, while Newmont and Northern Star Resources are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is adding almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Star Entertainment are plummeting 45 percent on its first day of trading since late August after reporting a multi-billion dollar annual loss.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.687 on Friday.

Adding to the gains in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is slightly higher in choppy trading on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is moving to stay just below the 39,000 mark, with strong gains in technology stocks partially offset by weakness in exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,964.65, up 39.02 points or 0.10 percent, after touching a high of 39,297.59 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also edging down 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are flat.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent, Screen Holdings is adding almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 5 percent.

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

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent, while Sony is declining almost 2 percent, Canon is edging down 0.2 percent and Panasonic is slipping almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Fanuc is surging almost 6 percent, while Ebara, Shiseido, Lasertec, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Omron and Daikin Industries are gaining almost 5 percent each. Hino Motors, OKUMA and ZOZO are adding more than 4 percent each, while Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Casio Computer are advancing almost 4 percent each. Yaskawa Electric is rising more than 3 percent and SMC is up almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Recruit Holdings is declining almost 4 percent and Inpex is losing almost 3 percent.

In economic news, overall consumer prices in the Tokyo region of Japan were up 2.2 percent on year in September, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was in line with forecasts and was down from 2.6 percent in August. Core CPI, which excludes the volatile costs of food, rose an annual 2.0 percent – again matching expectations and slowing from 2.4 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 145 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 2.6 percent, while New Zealand, China and Taiwan are higher by between 0.3 and 1.0 percent each. Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.3 and 0.8 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Thursday following the pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages gave back ground after an early rally but managed to end the day firmly into positive territory.

The S&P 500 rose 23.11 points or 0.4 percent to a new record closing high of 5,745.37, the Dow advanced 260.36 points or 0.6 percent to 42,175.11 and the Nasdaq climbed 108.09 points or 0.6 percent to 18,190.29.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 2.3 percent, the German DAX Index jumped by 1.7 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Thursday, weighed down by concerns about excess supply in the market after reports said OPEC will return 2.2 million barrels per day of production cuts back into the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $2.02 or 2.9 percent at $67.67 a barrel.