Asian Markets Track Global Markets Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, as traders reacted to upbeat US inflation data and a drop in treasury yields, which may have helped mitigate any negative response to the inflation data. They are also cautious and indulge in some bargain hunting ahead of the US Fed's monetary policy announcement in two days. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

The Australian stock market is currently trading sighnificantly higher on Monday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,600.00 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, with gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 54.10 points or 0.71 percent to 7,630.00, after touching a high of 7,638.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 59.00 points or 0.75 percent to 7,896.40. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, , BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging up 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent. Santos is edging down 0.4 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Appen is adding more than 3 percent, WiseTech Global is up almost 1 percent and Zip is surging almost 6 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Resolute Mining is adding almost 2 percent, Evolution Mining is up almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.3 percent, while Gold Road Resources is losing 1.5 percent and Newmont is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in Megaport are slipping more than 5 percent after the IT company upgraded its FY24 EBITDA guidance, but analysts said weak recurring revenue and KPIs during the quarter were below expectations.

Shares in Boss Energy are surging more than 6 percent after unveiling its first quarterly report since beginning uranium production at its Honeymoon project in South Australia.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.656 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is closed on account of Showa Day. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 159 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are up 1.6 percent each, while New Zealand, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each. Singapore is bucking the trend and is down 0.1 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Friday, largely offsetting the weakness seen during Thursday's session. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels late in the day but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq surged 316.14 points or 2.0 percent to 15,927.90, the S&P 500 jumped 51.54 points or 1.0 percent to 5,099.96 and the Dow climbed 153.86 points or 0.4 percent to 38,239.66.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices edged higher on Friday on optimism about the outlook for oil demand and concerns about supply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.28 or 0.34 percent at $83.85 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 0.85 percent in the week.