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, on easing global trade tensions amid ongoing tariff talks between the US and some of its partner countries, including China and Japan. There are also hopes for additional stimulus measures in China aimed at offsetting the impact of US tariffs. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Monday, adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,000.00 mark, with gains across most sectors led by technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 63.30 points or 0.79 percent to 8,031.50, after touching a high of 8,051.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 62.40 points or 0.76 percent to 8,237.50. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Thursday ahead of the holiday on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Rio Tinto is edging up 0.4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is adding more than 2 percent and Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are gaining more than 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is adding almost 2 percent and Appen is surging 4.5 percent, while Zip and Xero is advancing almost 3 percent each.

Gold miners are mixed. Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining and Newmont are losing more than 1 percent each. Gold Road Resources is declining more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 1 percent and National Australia Bank is advancing more than 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Brambles are slipping almost 6 percent after it trimmed its sales revenue growth forecast for the financial year to account for the impact of an uncertain market outlook on consumer demand.

Shares in Ainsworth are skyrocketing more than 32 percent after majority shareholder Novomatic said it would acquire all outstanding shares in the gaming machine manufacturer in a deal that values it at $336.8 million.

Shares in Telix are tumbling almost 9 percent after a US regulator did not approve its new drug application.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.638 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading notably higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 moving up to just below the 35,900 level, with gains across most sectors led by automakers and financial stocks. Technology stocks are the only weak spot amid profit booking.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 35,887.89, up 182.15 points or 0.51 percent, after touching a high of 36,075.26 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 2 percent and Toyota is adding almost 4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is slipping almost 5 percent, Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.2 percent and Screen Holdings is declining almost 2 percent.

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

The major exporters are higher. Panasonic is gaining more than 2 percent, Canon is adding almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.1 percent, while Sony is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Shin-Etsu Chemical is soaring more than 8 percent and Hitachi Construction Machinery is gaining almost 5 percent, while Astellas Pharma and DeNA are adding more than 4 percent each. Toyota Tsusho is advancing almost 4 percent, while Oriental Land, Komatsu, Ryohin Keikaku and Nidec are rising more than 3 percent each. Keisei Electric Railway, M3, IHI, Chubu Electric Power and Shimizu are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Nitto Denko is declining more than 6 percent and Fuji Electric is losing almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 143 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.2 and 1.0 percent each, while China, Hong Kong and Singapore are lower by between 0.1 and 0.3 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading day on Friday after turning in a lackluster performance early in the session. The major averages showed wild swings as the day progressed before eventually closing in positive territory.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the day firmly positive, closing higher for the fourth straight session. The Nasdaq jumped 216.90 points or 1.3 percent to 17,382.94 and the S&P 500 climbed 40.44 points or 0.7 percent to 5,525.21, while the narrower Dow inched up 20.10 points or 0.1 percent to 40,113.50.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices moved modestly higher on Friday amid signs of easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose $0.23 or 0.4 percent to $63.02 a barrel. For the week, crude for June delivery tumbled $0.99 a barrel or 1.6 percent.