Asian Markets A Sea Of Green

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets a sea of green on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid renewed optimism about an interest rate cut by the US Fed in December following the release of softer-than-expected US economic data and the recent dovish comments from US Fed officials. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.

Reports showed a substantial deterioration by U.S. consumer confidence in November and a lesser than expected US retail sales growth in September.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicates the chances the Fed will cut interest rates by another quarter point next month have surged to 82.7 percent from 50.1 percent a week ago.

Australian shares are trading significantly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 8,600 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors led by technology stocks. Gold miner stocks were the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 73.70 points or 0.86 percent to 8,610.70, after touching a high of 8,637.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 77.30 points or 0.88 percent to 8,901.50. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Fortescue is up almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 1 percent, Mineral Resources is advancing more than 3 percent and BHP Group is gaining 1.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is edging up 0.1 percent, Origin Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is advancing more than 3 percent, Zip is surging more than 7 perrcent and Appen is adding almost 4 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia bank and ANZ Banking are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent, while Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are edging down 0.3 percent each. Newmont is flat.

In other news, shares in National Storage are in a trading halt ahead of an announcement about a possible takeover bid for the self-storage company.

In economic news, The value of total construction work done in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2025, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - coming in at A$79.278 billion. That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent following the 3.0 percent gain in the previous three months. On a yearly basis, total construction work was up 2.9 percent.

Building work done rose 4.0 percent on quarter and 6.5 percent on year to A$43.261 billion. Engineering work done fell 5.8 percent on quarter and 1.2 percent on year to A$36.016 billion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.648 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is surging more than 2 percent to above the 49,600 level, with gains in across most sectors led by exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 49,605.57, up 946.05 points or 1.94 percent, after touching a high of 49,718.42 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is also adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent, Screen Holdings is adding almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.4 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Canon is gaining more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 2 percent, Panasonic is advancing more than 4 percent and Sony is up almost 3 percent.

Among other major gainers, Otsuka Holdings is surging more than 6 percent and Sumitomo Pharma is advancing almost 5 percent, while Sumitomo Pharma, Mitsui Kinzoku, Resonac Holdings and Tokyo Electric Power are gaining more than 4 percent each. Sumco, Toppan Holdings, Ryohin Keikaku, Tokyo Gas and Shimizu are adding almost 4 percent each. Kubota, Dai-ichi Life and Fuji Electric are advancing more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Ibiden is tumbling more than 7 percent and BayCurrent is declining almost 3 percent.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 2.7 percent on year in October, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday. That was in line with expectations and down from 3.1 percent on September.

On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.6 percent - again matching forecasts and up from 0.1 percent in the previous month. Excluding international transportation, producer prices rose an annual 2.8 percent and 0.6 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 156 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are surging 1.8 and 1.3 percent, respectively. New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. China is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks moved notably higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The major averages all moved to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq joining the Dow and the S&P 500 in positive territory after an initial pullback.

The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the end of the day but still posted strong gains. The Dow jumped 664.18 points or 1.4 percent to 47,112.45, the S&P 500 advanced 60.76 points or 0.9 percent to 6,765.88 and the Nasdaq climbed 153.59 points or 0.7 percent to 23,025.59.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday on reports that a revised Russia-Ukraine peace plan has been accepted by Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down $0.96 or 1.61 percent at $57.89 per barrel.