Asian Markets Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders react to the passage of the US debt ceiling bill by the U.S. House of Representatives by a wide margin. The U.S. Senate must vote on the bill later this week before US President Joe Biden can sign it into law to avoid a potentially disastrous default. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving a tad above the 7,100 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, boosted by gains in gold miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 17.30 points or 0.24 percent to 7,108.60, after touching a high of 7,131.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.50 points or 0.20 percent to 7,288.00. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are down more than 1 percent each, while BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Beach energy are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Zip and Xero are adding almost 1 percent each, while Afterpay owner Block is advancing almost 2 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent. Appen is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are also edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is advancing almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is adding more than 1 percent. Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in May, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 48.4. That's up from 48.0, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.651 on Thursday. The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Thursday, recouping the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 just below the 31,000 mark, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, boosted by gains in exporters and technology stocks. Traders also digested data that showed Japanese manufacturing activity climbed back into expansion territory in May The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 30,976.43, up 88.55 points or 0.29 percent, after touching a high of 31,185.05 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging almost 6 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 2 percent, while Honda is edging down 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging up 0.1 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent, while Advantest is losing more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.2 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining 1.5 percent, Canon is adding almost 1 percent, Sony is advancing almost 2 percent and Panasonic is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Citizen Watch is surging almost 6 percent and Japan Steel Works is gaining almost 5 percent, while Fujitsu and Kajima are adding almost 4 percent each. Mitsubishi Corp. and Marui Group are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Pacific Metals is losing more than 4 percent and Mitsubishi Motors is declining almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan climbed back into expansion territory in May, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.6. That's up from 49.5, and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 139 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Singapore are higher by between 0.2 and 0.5 percent each, while South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia are lower by between 0.4 and 0.6 percent each. Indonesia is closed for Pancasila Day holiday. On Wall Street, stock ended weak on Wednesday after languishing in negative territory right through the day's session. The weakness in the market came as traders kept a close eye on developments regarding the bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid potentially disastrous default.

The major averages all ended with moderate losses despite coming off the day's lows. The Dow ended the session at 32,908.27 with a loss of 134.51 points or 0.41 percent. The S&P 500 settled with a loss of 25.69 points or 0.61 percent at 4,179.83, while the Nasdaq ended down 82.14 points or 0.63 percent at 12,935.29.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 1.01 percent down, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 both lost about 1.55 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday as worries about fuel demand resurfaced, while a stronger dollar also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July slumped $1.37 or 2 percent at $68.09 a barrel.