Asian Markets Trade Mixed

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders remain cautious about the developments in the Middle East as US President Donald trump said he may join Saudi Arabia in retaliating against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen following another deadly attack on Riyadh's international airport and tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

Crude oil supply concerns and inflationary risks could ease on hopes that Russian diesel can ease global fuel shortages, following an "energy ceasefire" agreed by Russia and Ukraine with effect immediately.

Traders also await the release of key US inflation data, with the September consumer and producer price indexes due on Wednesday and Thursday, which will impact the outlook for interest rates.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 82.8 chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged at its October meeting, although the central bank is still widely expected to raise rates by another quarter point its December meeting.

The Australian stock market is significantly 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 8,750.00 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Energy stocks are the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 69.90 points or 0.80 percent to 8,786.50, after touching a high of 8,793.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 64.20 points or 0.72 percent to 8,941.90. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is advancing almost 3 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining more than 1 percent, Mineral Resources is adding more than 2 percent and Fortescue is up almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent and Beach energy is declining almost 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is advancing more than 3 percent and Zip is adding more than 4 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining almost 3 percent each. Appen is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Resolute Mining and Evolution Mining are adding almost 2 percent each, while Genesis Minerals and Newmont are gaining almost 1 percent each. Northern Star Resources is advancing more than 2 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Maas Group are tumbling almost 10 percent on the failed Firmus IPO. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.699 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is closed for Sports Day on Monday. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Friday.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 158 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are higher by between 0.4 and 0.6 percent each. South Korea is down 2.2 percent, while Taiwan and Indonesia are down 0.4 and 0.5 percent, respectively. China is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a notable move back to the upside during trading on Friday after coming under pressure over the course of the previous session. The major averages all finished the day firmly in positive territory.

The Dow advanced 423.31 points or 0.8 percent to 51,654.95, the Nasdaq climbed 172.83 points or 0.6 percent to 27,366.17 and the S&P 500 rose 46.18 points or 0.6 percent to 7,811.54.

The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both shot up by 1.1 percent.

Crude oil prices showed a lack of direction on Friday as traders await more concrete developments regarding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.33 or 0.4 percent to $91.82 a barrel.