Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - With traders remaining reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of some key economic data in the coming days, Asian stock markets are trading mostly in the green on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from the Wall Street overnight. Traders are also cautiously optimistic over the outlook for interest rates following recent economic data. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

Australian shares are gaining for the second straight session on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,000 mark, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by primarily by strong gains is gold miners and technology stocks.

The markets were boosted after domestic data released showed the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator dropped to a three-month low. This is also the first decline in annual inflation and the slowest pace since July.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 28.90 points or 0.41 percent to 7,044.10, after touching a high of 7,056.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 30.10 points or 0.42 percent to 7,253.20. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Fortescue Metals and Mineral Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is edging down 0.1 percent, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.3 percent each. Beach energy and Origin Energy are flat. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 4 percent, Appen is adding more than 3 percent and Xero is rising more than 2 percent, while WiseTech Global and Zip are advancing almost 2 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Among gold miners, Resolute Mining and Newmont are surging more than 5 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are gaining almost 4 percent each. Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 5 percent. In other news, shares in Fisher & Paykel Healthcare are jumping almost 8 percent after the respirator manufacturer reported higher revenue and profit in its first half of 2024.

In economic news, Australia's monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator rose 4.9 percent in the year to October 2023, slowing from a 5.6 percent gain in the year to September 2023 and was below the market consensus of 5.2 percent. It was the first decline in annual inflation since July. Inflation remained well above the Reserve Bank of Australia's target range of 2 to 3 percent.

Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the value of total construction work done in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 13 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2023, coming in at A$64.768 billion. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.3 percent and was up from 0.4 percent in the three months prior. On a yearly basis, the value of overall construction work was up 8.5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.665 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly higher after being in the red most of the morning session on Wednesday, recouping some of losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is remaining above the 33,400 level, with losses in financial stocks more than offset by gains in some index heavtweights. Traders also continue to book profits after the November rally.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 33,450.32, up 41.93 points or 0.13 percent, after hitting a low of 33,179.07 and a high of 33,480.93 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent, while Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.3 percent and Screen Holdings is gaining almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing more than 2 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is edging up 0.1 percent, while Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are losing almost 1 percent each. Canon is flat.

Among other major gainers, Nitori Holdings, Lasertec and Rakuten Group are gaining almost 3 each.

Conversely, Mazda Motor, Kobe Steel and Taisei are losing almost 3 percent each.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each, while Hong Kong and China are down 1.2 and 0.2 percent, respectively.

On the Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Tuesday before eventually ending the day modestly higher. With the uptick on the day, the Dow reached its best closing level in well over three months.

The major averages finished the day well off their highs of the session but still in positive territory. The Dow crept up 83.51 points or 0.2 percent to 35,416.98, the Nasdaq rose 40.73 points or 0.3 percent to 14,281.76 and the S&P 500 inched up 4.46 points or 0.1 percent to 4,554.89.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the German DAX Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slipped by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Tuesday on hopes that OPEC will extend output cuts at Thursday's ministerial meeting. A weak dollar contributed as well to the jump in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended up $1.55 or 2.1 percent at $76.41 a barrel.