Asian Markets A Sea Of Green On Global Cues

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as global bond yields retreated and the US dollar weakened against major Asian currencies. Traders are also picking up stocks amid some hopes that the US Fed might slow down the pace of monetary policy tightening at its upcoming meetings. Asian Markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

While public comments from Fed officials have largely been hawkish, a recent report from the Wall Street Journal suggested some are growing uneasy about the impact the aggressive rate hikes are having on the economy.

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points next week, although CME Group's FedWatch Tool shows the chances for a 50 or 75 basis point rate hike in December are split roughly fifty-fifty.

The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 6,800 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as global bond yields and the US dollar retreated. Stocks gave up ground from the morning's highs after domestic inflation data came in hotter than expected.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 14.10 points or 0.21 percent to 6,812.70, after touching a high of 6,843.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.70 points or 0.21 percent to 7,008.40. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, OZ Minerals is gaining more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is adding more than 3 percent, while Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, while Santos is edging down 0.3 percent. Origin Energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Zip and Xero are gaining almost 1 percent each. WiseTech Global is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Westpac is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are adding more than 2 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Newcrest Mining are up more than 1 percent each. Gold Road Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

In economic news, consumer prices in Australia surged 7.3 percent on year in the third quarter of 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - exceeding expectations for an increase of 7.0 percent and accelerating from 6.1 percent in the previous three months. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, inflation climbed 1.8 percent - unchanged from the second quarter but above estimates for 1.6 percent.

In other news, shares in Medibank are plummeting 17 percent on returning to trade after it warned of a $25 million to $35 million hit to first-half earnings from costs related to a data breach that compromised customer data.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.639 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving up to nearly the 27,600 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, amid hopes the US Fed might slow down the pace of its monetary tightening at its upcoming meetings.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,577.15, up 326.87 points or 1.20 percent, after touching a high of 27,578.01 earlier. Japanese stocks closed significantly higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing are gaining more than 1 percent each. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are gaining almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Advantest is flat.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.5 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each.

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

Among the other major gainers, Denka is soaring 8.5 percent, while T&D Holdings and M3 are gaining almost 4 percent. Shiseido is adding more than 3 percent, while Takara Holdings, Recruit Holdings, Trend Micro, Shionogi & Co., Rakuten Group, Daiichi Sankyo and Eisai are all up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no major losers

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and China are up 2.5 and 1.6 percent, respectively. New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.3 and 1.0 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, extending the rally seen over the two previous sessions. With the continued advance, the major averages all reached their best closing levels in over a month.

The major averages reached new highs in the final hour of trading but gave back some ground going into the close. The Dow jumped 337.12 points or 1.1 percent at 31,836.74, the Nasdaq soared 246.50 points or 2.3 percent to 11,199.12 and the S&P 500 surged 61.77 points or 1.6 percent to 3,859.11.

The major European markets also moved mostly higher on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index ended the day nearly unchanged, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.9 percent.

Crude oil futures settled higher Tuesday, buoyed by a weaker dollar and concerns about supply after Saudi Arabia's energy minister commented that energy stocks were being used as a mechanism to manipulate markets. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for December ended higher by $0.74 or 0.9 percent at $85.32 a barrel.