Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid optimism about the outlook for interest rates following a report showing unexpected decrease in US private sector employment in the month of September. Expectations of additional rate cuts this year and another next year have increased among traders based on projections. Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, investors are betting on a 99.0% chance of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut and a remote 1.0% chance of a 50-basis-point rate cut at the Federal Reserve's October 28-29 meeting.

The U.S. government officially shut down after lawmakers failed to pass a temporary spending bill. Analysts have pointed out that the markets have historically not been materially impacted by government shutdowns.

However, the closely watched monthly US jobs data on Friday is likely to be delayed due to the shutdown.

The Australian market is trading significantly higher on Thursday, reversing the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,900 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 95.30 points or 1.08 percent to 8,941.00, after touching a high of 8,959.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 97.50 points or 1.07 percent to 9,234.10. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is adding almost 3 percent and Fortescue is rising more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are higher. Beach energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 3 percent, Appen is jumping more than 4 percent, Zip is adding almost 2 percent and Xero is adding more than 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Newmont is advancing almost 2 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 3 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding almost 4 percent and Resolute Mining is up more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Dateline Resources are jumping more than 11 percent on news of an aggressive drilling program to enhance its gold and rare earth potential at its Colosseum Project.

Shares in Orthocell are soaring almost 7 percent on upbeat quarterly financial results, driven by the success of its nerve repair product Remplir.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.662 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is notably higher on Thursday, snapping a four-session losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 44,800 level, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers, exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 44,675.96, up 125.11 points or 0.28 percent, after touching a high of 45,125.96 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging almost 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 1 percent and Honda is declining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 3 percent, Screen Holdings is advancing more than 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is surging almost 5 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is losing almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is down almost 1 percent, Panasonic is declining more than 1 percent, Sony is losing more than 2 percent and Canon is slipping almost 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Disco is jumping almost 7 percent, Daiichi Sankyo is soaring more than 6 percent, Sumco is surging almost 5 percent and Resonac Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent, while Mitsui Mining & Smelting, Nikon and Sumitomo Metal Mining are advancing almost 4 percent each. Mitsubishi Materials is adding more than 3 percent, while Lasertec and Yaskawa Electric are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Tokyo Electric Power is tumbling almost 7 percent, while M3 and Mazda Motor are losing almost 4 percent each. Konami Group and Shionogi & Co. are down more than 3 percent each, while Keisei Electric Railway, Asahi Group, Hino Motors, Terumo, East Japan Railway, BANDAI NAMCO, Kansai Electric Power and Marui Group are declining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 147 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is up 3.0 percent, while Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are higher by between 1.1 and 1.8 percent each. New Zealand, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. China remains closed for the National Day holiday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure early in the session on Wednesday but staged a significant turnaround over the course of the trading day. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session and into positive territory.

The major averages gave back some ground going into the end the day still finished higher. The Nasdaq climbed 95.15 points or 0.4 percent to 22,755.16, the S&P 500 rose 22.74 points or 0.3 percent to 6,711.20 and the Dow inched up 43.21 points or 0.1 percent to 46,441.10.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both jumped by 1.0 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply again Wednesday on concerns of excess supply after OPEC said it will hike output more than expected in November. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down by $0.60 or 0.96 percent at $61.77 per barrel.