Asian Markets A Sea Of Green

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are a sea of green on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, after data showing a slowdown in the annual rate of core consumer prices growth in the U.S. in December helped ease concerns about US Fed's interest rate trajectory. The currencies in the region also strengthened against the US dollar. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

The Australian market is trading sharply higher on Thursday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,300 level, with gains across most sectors led by technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 105.80 points or 1.29 percent to 8,319.10, after touching a high of 8,345.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 103.70 points or 1.23 percent to 8,560.50. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent. Rio Tinto is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Santos are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent. Beach energy is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Zip is surging almost 7 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing 1.5 percent and Xero is adding more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining 2.5 percent and National Australia Bank is advancing almost 3 percent, while Westpac and ANZ Banking are adding more than 2 percent each. Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 3 percent, Evolution Mining is up more than 2 percent and Newmont is adding more than 3 percent, while Resolute Mining is declining 2.5 percent. Northern Star Resources is flat.

In economic news, the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.0 percent in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - in line with expectations and up from 3.9 percent in November. The participation rate was 67.1 percent, beating forecasts for 67.0 percent - which would have been unchanged.

The Australian economy added 56,300 jobs last month, blowing away expectations for an increase of 14,500 following the downwardly revised gain of 28,200 in November (originally 35,600 jobs). Full-time employment was down 23,700 jobs, while part-time employment jumped by 80,000.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.622 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is modestly higher on Thursday, snapping a five-session losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 38,500 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,551.96, up 107.38 points or 0.28 percent, after touching a high of 39,932.54 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are adding almost 2 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.5 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent, while Canon and Sony are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each. Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Hino Motors is soaring almost 8 percent, CyberAgent is surging more than 5 percent and Toho is gaining almost 5 percent, while Japan Steel Works, Nomura Holdings, Nitori Holdings and Recruit Holdings are adding almost 4 percent each. Renesas Electronics, Yaskawa Electric and Furukawa Electric are advancing more than 3 percent each, while Toto and IHI are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Murata Manufacturing is losing almost 5 percent and Nissan Motor is declining almost 4 percent.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 0.3 percent on month in December, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday. That was unchanged from the November reading, but shy of expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent.

On a yearly basis, producer prices advanced 3.8 percent - matching forecasts and unchanged from the previous month following an upward revision from 3.7 percent. Export prices were down 0.2 percent on month and up 0.7 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices slumped 0.9 percent on month and 3.3 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-155 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are up between 1.2 and 2.0 percent each, while New Zealand, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each. On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher early in the session on Wednesday and continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading day. The major averages all surged after ending Tuesday's trading narrowly mixed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a standout gain, soaring 466.84 points or 2.5 percent to 19,511.23 after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in almost two months. The Dow also jumped 703.27 points or 1.7 percent to 43,221.55, while the S&P 500 shot up 107.00 points or 1.8 percent to 5,949.91.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index surged by 1.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices spiked Wednesday as crude inventories in the U.S. dropped last week, while possible supply disruptions due to new sanctions against Russia also supported prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February rose $2.54 or 3.3 percent at $80.04 a barrel.