Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders react to the report showing producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly unchanged in September, reinforcing optimism the US Fed will continue lowering interest rates in the coming months, although hopes for another 50-basis point cut next month largely evaporated. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

"After an upside surprise from the September CPI report, producer prices came in below expectations and provide support for a 25bps rate cut in November," said Matthew Martin, Senior U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

Markets in China and Hong Kong are weak after China's finance ministry flagged more fiscal stimulus over the weekend but left out key details on the overall size of the package. Meanwhile, China's consumer inflation unexpectedly eased in September, while producer price deflation deepened, raising concerns about weak domestic demand.

The Australian stock market is currently trading notably higher on Monday, reversing the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,200.00 level, with gains in mining and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 37.40 points or 0.46 percent to 8,251.90, after touching of 8,254.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 35.90 points or 0.42 percent to 8,527.40. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is gaining more than 1 percent. Mineral Resources is losing almost 2 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy Energy is edging down 0.4 percent and Santos is down more than 1 percent, while Beach energy and Woodside Energy are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 2 percent and Zip is declining more than 1 percent, while Appen is gaining almost 3 percent and Xero is adding almost 1 percent. WiseTech Global is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is adding more than 2 percent and Newmont is edging up 0.4 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Web Travel Group are tumbling 31 percent after it said subdued margins in its European WebBeds business led to disappointing results and weak outlook.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.673 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is closed for Sports Day on Monday. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Friday.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.5 percent each. Hong Kong is down 2.5 percent, while New Zealand and China are down 0.6 and 0.2 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Friday following the modest pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages more than offset yesterday's losses, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow jumped 409.74 points or 1.0 percent to 42,863.86, the S&P 500 climbed 34.96 points or 0.6 percent to 5,815.03 and the Nasdaq rose 60.89 points or 0.3 percent to 18,342.94.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices saw a modest pullback on Friday after surging in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery dipped $0.29 or 0.4 percent to $75.56 a barrel. Despite the pullback on the day, the price of crude oil jumped by 1.6 percent for the week.