Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid easing of global yields and on optimism that data showing weakness in the US labor market will encourage the US Fed to lower interest rates in the coming months. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

Traders appeared a bit reluctant to make significant moves, with the Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank scheduled to make their monetary policy announcements on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, and the crucial U.S.jobs data due on Friday.

Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday, recouping the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,700 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in technology and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in gold miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 31.20 points or 0.40 percent to 7,768.30, after touching a high of 7,768.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 25.60 points or 0.32 percent to 8,019.70. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Woodside Energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is declining almost 2 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent each, while Zip is adding more than 1 percent. Appen and Xero are flat. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.5 percent each.

Among gold miners, Newmont is losing more than 3 percent, Resolute Mining is declining almost 4 percent, Evolution Mining is slipping 1.5 percent, Gold Road Resources is falling more than 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent.

In economic news, Australia's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent following the upwardly revised 0.3 percent gain in the previous quarter (originally 0.2 percent). On an annualized basis, GDP grew 1.1 percent - again, just missing forecasts for 1.2 percent following the upwardly revised 1.6 percent gain in the three months prior (originally 1.5 percent). Nominal GDP was up 1.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in May, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 52.5. That's down from 53.6 in April, 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 $0.666 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling to near the 38,500 level, with losses across most sectors led by auto makers, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,527.60, down 309.86 points or 0.80 percent, after hitting a low of 38,343.98 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 3 percent and Toyota is down more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is declining almost 3 percent and Screen Holdings is slipping 3.5 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Canon is losing almost 3 percent, Panasonic is declining more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is sliding more than 4 percent, while Sony is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among other major losers, Lasertec plunging more than 7 percent and Recruit Holdings is declining almost 6 percent, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Isetan Mitsukoshi are losing more than 5 percent each. Credit Saison and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are slipping almost 5 percent each, while Dai-ichi Life, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Hitachi, Amada, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, MS&AD Insurance, Fukuoka Financial and Sojitz are losing more than 4 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In economic news, the services sector in Japan continued to expand in May, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 53.8. That's down from 54.3 in April, although it remains 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 155 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and South Korea are up 1.1 percent each, while New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each. China and Indonesia are down 0.1 percent each. On the Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Tuesday before eventually ending the day modestly higher. The major averages all finished the day in positive territory following the mixed performance seen on Monday.

The Dow climbed 140.26 points or 0.4 percent to 38,711.29, the Nasdaq rose 28.38 points or 0.2 percent to 16,857.05 and the S&P 500 edged up 7.94 points or 0.2 percent to 5,291.34.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session amid concerns about possible oversupply in the market after OPEC decided to phase out voluntary production cuts from October. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July fell $0.97 or 1.3 percent at $73.25 a barrel.