Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious ahead of the release of a key U.S. inflation measure, the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. and uncertainty over Trump's tariff plans. Markets were positive after Israel approved a US-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.

Traders also react to the minutes of the US Fed's latest monetary policy meeting that revealed officials believe it will be appropriate to "gradually" lower interest rates. They also await a slew of US economic data, including the Fed's preferred readings on consumer price inflation for clues on the interest rate outlook.

Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Wednesday, reversing the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 8,400 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 49.30 points or 0.59 percent to 8,408.70, after touching a high of 8,411.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 49.90 points or 0.58 percent to 8,662.50. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 2 percent. Mineral Resources is edging down 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Santos is adding almost 1 percent. In the tech space, Appen is advancing almost 6 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 2 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.5 percent and Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent. Zip is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is adding more than 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. National Australia Bank is flat.

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

In other news, shares in Web Travel Group are soaring almost 12 percent after the travel technology company reported upbeat results for the first-half.

Shares in Webjet are also surging 13 percent after reporting strong half-year revenue and announcing a share buyback plan of up to A$150 million.

In economic news, the value of construction work done in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - coming in at A$73.344 billion. That beat expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent and was up from 0.1 percent in the three months prior. On a yearly basis, construction work was up 3.2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.647 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading notably lower on Wednesday, adding to the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 38,200 level, with weakness across most sectors led by automakers, exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,165.85, down 276.15 points or 0.72 percent, after hitting a low of 38,062.77 earlier. Japanese stocks ended significantly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 3 percent and Toyota is declining more than 3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is down more than 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is edging up 0.5 percent, while Canon is edging down 0.1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent and Panasonic is declining almost 2 percent.

Among other major losers, Mitsubishi Chemical is losing almost 5 percent, while Tokyu, Mazda Motor and Nissan Motor are declining more than 4 percent each. Hino Motors and Mitsubishi Motors are down almost 4 percent each, while GS Yuasa, JTEKT, Fanuc, Furukawa Electric, Nikon, Nissan Chemical and SMC are all declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Oriental Land and Keisei Electric Railway are gaining almost 6 percent each, while Resonac Holdings is adding more than 4 percent. Chugai Pharmaceutical is advancing more than 3 percent, while Kansai Electric Power and Fujitsu are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 152 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each, while New Zealand and Malaysia are up 0.4 and 0.3 percent, respectively. Hong Kong and South Korea are relatively flat.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved to the upside over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after turning in a mixed performance early in the session. The Dow recovered from early weakness to end the day at another new record closing high.

The Dow fell by as much as 0.7 percent in early trading but ended the day up 123.74 points or 0.3 percent at 44,860.31. The S&P 500 also climbed 34.26 points or 0.6 percent to a record closing high of 6,021.63, while the Nasdaq rose 119.46 points or 0.6 percent to 19,174.30.

The major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index fell by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index declined by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday following reports Israel and Hezbollah are closer to reaching a cease-fire agreement within the next few days. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed down $0.17 at $68.77 a barrel.