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, and as markets react positively to China unveiling a special action plan over the weekend to revive consumption and to boost the stock and real estate market. The ongoing concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump's trade policies are hurting market sentiment. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Monday, extending the gains 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 7,800.00 level, with gains across most sectors led by iron ore miners and technology stocks. Gold stocks are the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 49.90 points or 0.64 percent to 7,839.60, after touching a high of 7,858.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 57.20 points or 0.71 percent to 8,070.50. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 4 percent. Mineral Resources is surging almost 10 percent after UBS upgraded the stock to "Buy." Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Beach energy are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Santos is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent,Zip is advancing more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.3 percent and Xero is adding more than 1 percent, while Appen is losing almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent, while Northern Star Resources, Gold Road Resources and Newmont are losing almost 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are gaining more than 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is edging down 0.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Spartan Resources are rallying more than 9 percent after it confirmed reports of its merger with Ramelius Resources. Shares in Smartpay Holdings are skyrocketing more than 48 percent after confirming it was in takeover talks with at least two parties after its shares were smashed on the central bank's decision to put debit card surcharges under the microscope.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.633 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 37,500 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,475.24, up 422.14 points or 1.14 percent, after touching a high of 37,561.21 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Totota is also adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 2 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are adding more than 1 percent each.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Mitsubishi Electric is surging more than 5 percent, Sony is advancing almost 3 percent, Canon is gaining more than 1 percent and Panasonic is adding almost 2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is surging almost 8 percent and Hitachi Construction Machinery is advancing more than 4 percent, while Mitsubishi Estate, Japan Steel Works and IHI are gaining almost 4 percent each. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Socionext, Hino Motors, Nomura Holdings, Fujitsu and CyberAgent are adding more than 3 percent each, while Kajima and Yamaha are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 148 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.5 and 1.5 percent each. New Zealand and Indonesia are down 0.4 and 0.1 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside during trading on Friday following the sell-off seen over the course of Thursday's session. The major averages all moved sharply higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a standout gain.

The major averages reached new highs for the session going into the close of trading. The Nasdaq soared 451.07 points or 2.6 percent to 17,754.09, the S&P 500 surged 117.42 points or 2.1 percent to 5,638.94 and the Dow jumped 674.62 points or 1.7 percent to 41,488.19.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index shot up by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both jumped by 1.1 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday as worries about excess supply in the market eased after the U.S. government announced fresh sanctions on Iranian oil and shipping. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $0.63 or 1 percent at $67.18 a barrel.