Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian markets are mostly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as a pullback in crude oil prices and bond yields helped ease global inflation worries and the outlook for interest rates. Market sentiment improved after US President Donald Trump stated that Washington is "hopefully toward the end" of fighting with Iran and that he has spoken "directly" with Iranian officials. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

Supply-related concerns eased amid Saudi Arabia's efforts to get its vital East-West pipeline back in operation and after it offered loadings of crude oil to Asian refiners via ship-to-ship (STS) transfer off Oman's Sohar port.

The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 8,750 level, with gains in mining stocks partially offset by weakness in energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 14.00 points or 0.16 percent to 8,746.40, after touching a high of 8,771.60 and a low of 8,729.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 21.50 points or 0.24 percent to 8,932.40. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is advancing more than 1 percent and Fortescue is edging up 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Santos is edging down 0.3 percent. Beach energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block, Xero and WiseTech Global are losing almost 1 percent each, while Zip is declining more than 1 percent. Appen is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Newmont and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is advancing almost 4 percent, Evolution Mining is adding almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is rising more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.712 on Friday.

The Japanese market is trading significantly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 64,650 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 64,662.11, up 525.86 points or 0.82 percent, after touching a high of 64,851.88 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is down almost 1 percent and Honda is also losing almost 1 percent.

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

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

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Canon is losing more than 1 percent and Sony is declining almost 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Lasertec is jumping almost 7 percent, Ibiden is advancing more than 4 percent and Mercari is gaining almost 4 percent, while Sumco, Kioxia Holdings, Mitsubishi Materials and Mitsui Kinzoku are adding more than 3 percent each. Sumitomo Metal Mining and Tokai Carbon are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Chubu Electric Power, Taiheiyo Cement and Kansai Electric Power are declining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, Japan's core inflation eased to 1.7 percent in August from 1.8 percent in July, marking its first slowdown in four months. It also stayed below the BOJ's 2 percent target for a seventh straight month. Meanwhile, Japan's annual inflation rate held steady at 1.9 percent in August.

The Bank of Japan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Friday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoJ is expected to hike its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to 1.25 percent from 1.00 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 156 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is up 2.0 percent, while China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.4 and 1.0 percent each. New Zealand and Singapore are down 0.7 and 0.4 percent, respectively. Malaysia is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Thursday following the downturn seen late in the previous session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, offsetting recent losses and turning positive for the week.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 reached new highs for the session late in the day before giving back ground going into the close. The Nasdaq surged 439.87 points or 1.7 percent to 26,418.30 and the S&P 500 jumped 85.95 points or 1.1 percent to 7,637.76. The narrower Dow climbed 316.14 points or 0.6 percent to 51,778.04.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices pulled back on Thursday after supply-related concerns eased amid Saudi Arabia's efforts to get its vital oil pipeline back in operation. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.60 or 0.59 percent at $101.83 per barrel.