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, with strength in resources and energy stocks boosting the markets amid the spike in commodity prices. Markets were also supported by stronger-than-expected employment data from the US that helped raise hopes the US Fed would slow its pace of interest rate hikes in the upcoming meetings. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 6,900 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, with strong gains in resources and energy stocks amid the spike in commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 28.10 points or 0.41 percent to 6,920.60, after touching a high of 6,943.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 29.30 points or 0.41 percent to 7,118.60. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are gaining almost 3 percent each, while BHP Group is advancing almost 4 percent, OZ Minerals is up almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is adding more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Woodside Energy is advancing more than 2 percent and Santos is edging up 0.4 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 4 percent, WiseTech Global is slipping more than 2 percent and Xero is edging down 0.4 percent, while Appen is gaining almost 2 percent and Zip is flat.

Gold miners are strong. Gold Road Resources is surging almost 6 percent, Newcrest Mining is gaining almost 3 percent, Northern Star Resources is advancing almost 5 percent, Resolute Mining is adding almost 4 percent and Evolution Mining is soaring more than 7 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is edging down 0.5 percent, ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent and Westpac is declining 3.5 percent, while Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.642 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply higher on Monday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 27,500 level, tracking the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, boosted by strong corporate earnings reports and outlook.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,528.66, up 328.92 or 1.21 percent, after touching a high of 27,576.96 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 3 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 2 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.4 percent.

The major exporters are strong, with Sony and Canon gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.4 percent. Panasonic is losing 2.5 percent. Among the other major gainers, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and JFE Holdings are surging almost 6 percent each, while Konica Minolta is gaining almost 5 percent and Sumitomo Metal Mining is adding more than 4 percent. Sumitomo, Nippon Steel, Marubeni and Nintendo are all up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Ricoh is plunging almost 8 percent, Kyowa Kirin is sliding almost 6 percent and Sharp is losing more than 4 percent and Kikkoman is declining more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 147 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are up 1.8 and 1.2 percent, respectively, while New Zealand, China, South Korea and Malaysia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each. Indonesia is bucking the trend and is down 0.4 percent. Singapore is relatively flat. On Wall Street, stocks saw significant volatility during trading on Friday before eventually ending the session sharply higher. With the strong upward move, the major averages regained ground after closing lower for four straight sessions.

The major averages all posted strong gains on the day. The Dow jumped 401.97 points or 1.3 percent to 32,403.22, the Nasdaq surged 132.31 points or 1.3 percent to 10,475.25 and the S&P 500 shot up 50.66 points or 1.4 percent to 3,770.55.

The major European markets also showed substantial moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index spiked by 2.8 percent, the German DAX Index shot up by 2.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 2.0 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday amid easing concerns about the outlook for energy demand. A weak dollar and fears of a ban by the European Union on Russian oil also supported crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $4.44 or 5 percent at $92.61 a barrel.