Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders had expressed some concerns the US Fed's next monetary policy move could actually be an interest rate hike rather than a cut, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell post-meeting alleviated those worries. Powell said the next rate move from the central bank will most likely be an interest rate reduction. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

Traders had expressed some concerns the Fed's next monetary policy move could actually be an interest rate hike rather than a cut, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell post-meeting alleviated those worries. Powell said the next rate move from the central bank will most likely be an interest rate reduction

Adding to the gains in the previous session, the Australian stock market is notably higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 7,600 level, with gains across most sectors led by technology stocks partially offset by weakness in gold mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 51.80 points or 0.68 percent to 7,638.80, after touching a high of 7,640.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 56.40 points or 0.72 percent to 7,905.80. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are gaining almost 1 percent each, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each. Oil stocks are higher. Beach energy and Woodside Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is gaining 1.5 percent, Xero is adding almost 1 percent, Zip is surging almost 5 percent and Appen is advancing almost 2 percent. Afterpay owner Block is soaring more than 9 percent after parent company Square upgraded its earnings outlook.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Westpac and ANZ Banking are adding almost 1 percent each. Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are losing almost 5 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent. Gold Road Resources and Newmont are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. is edging up 0.5 percent.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in April, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Friday with a services PMI score of 53.6. That's down from 54.4 in March, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.658 on Friday.

The Japanese stock market is closed for Constitution Memorial Day holiday on Friday. Japanese stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 1.3 percent, while New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. Indonesia is bucking the trend and is down 0.1 percent. China remains closed for Labor Day. On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated early in the session on Thursday before moving sharply higher over the course of the trading day. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside after ending Wednesday's trading narrowly mixed.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow jumped 322.37 points or 0.9 percent to 38,225.66, the Nasdaq surged 235.48 points or 1.5 percent to 15,840.96 and the S&P 500 advanced 45.81 points or 0.9 percent at 5,064.20.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index slipped by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices failed to hold early gains and settled slightly lower on Thursday amid easing concerns over supply disruptions and worries about the outlook for economic growth and energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $0.05 at $78.95 a barrel.