Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious ahead of the release of the more closely watched US monthly jobs report on Friday. Stocks have shown a substantial rebound or late, but are hampered by lingering concerns about the outlook for the economy. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

Comments from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic raised the possibility of a larger interest rate cut by the US Fed this month. Bostic said that the Fed must not maintain a restrictive policy stance for too long, intensifying speculation that the central bank may pivot towards easy policy soon.

The Fed is almost certain to lower interest rates at its next meeting later this month, but there is some disagreement about the pace of rate cuts.

According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, there is a 63 percent chance of a quarter point rate cut and a 37 percent chance of a half point rate cut.

The Australian market is modestly higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving to near the 8,000 mark, with gains in mining, financial and technology stocks, partially offset by losses in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 16.60 points or 0.21 percent to 7,967.10, after touching a high of 7,950.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 16.00 points or 0.20 percent to 8,173.00. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy and Origin Energy are losing more than 3 percent each, while Santos is down almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is declining almost 6 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Appen is gaining almost 5 percent and Zip is advancing almost 1 percent. WiseTech Global is flat.

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

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is advancing almost 2 percent. Newmont is edging down 0.4 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.

In other news, shares in Coronado Global Resources are tumbling more than 16 percent after it said heavy rain at its coal mine in the Bowen Basin of Central Queensland has hurt production in FY24.

Shares in Challenger are plunging almost 11 percent after US-listed private capital firm Apollo Global Management offloaded a 10 percent stake in the annuities and fund manager.

Shares in NextDC are jumping more than 8 percent after the IT service management company launched its first tier IV data centre in Adelaide.

Shares in Star Entertainment remain in a halt as the casino operator's negotiations with its lenders continue with no sign of a deal.

In economic news, Australia posted a merchandise trade surplus of A$6.009 billion in July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. That exceeded expectations for a surplus of A$5.050 billion and was up from the downwardly revised A$5.425 billion surplus in June (originally A$5.589 billion).

Exports were up 0.7 percent following the downwardly revised 1.4 percent increase in the previous month (originally 1.7 percent). Imports fell 0.8 percent on month after adding a downwardly revised 0.4 percent a month earlier (originally 0.5 percent).

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.673 on Thursday.

Extending the losses in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is notably lower on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 37,000 mark, with weakness in some index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 36,917.44, down 130.17 points or 0.35 percent, after hitting a low of 36,359.23 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 1 percent, while Honda is gaining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing almost 2 percent and Advantest is down more than 1 percent, while Screen Holdings gaining almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.5 percent. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is flat.

Among the major exporters, Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Panasonic is adding more than 1 percent. Sony is declining almost 1 percent.

Among other major losers, Renesas Electronics is losing almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Mitsubishi Logistics is gaining more than 5 percent and Hitachi Zosen is adding almost 5 percent, while GS Yuasa and Kao are up more than 4 percent each. Fujikura is rising more than 3 percent, while Osaka Gas, Taisei, Nippon Paper Industries, Toray Industries and Mitsubishi Chemical Group are advancing almost 3 percent each.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is up 1.3 percent, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each. Indonesia is bucking the trend and is down 0.1 percent. On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday following the sell-off seen during Tuesday's session. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually finished the day narrowly mixed. While the Dow inched up 38.04 points or 0.1 percent to 40,974.97, the S&P 500 dipped 8.86 points or 0.2 percent to 5,520.07 and the Nasdaq fell 52.00 points or 0.3 percent to 17,084.30.

Meanwhile, European stocks moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.0 percent, the German DAX Index slid by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday amid rising concerns about the outlook for demand following reports that OPEC is planning to restore 180,000 barrels per day of voluntary production cuts beginning next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down $1.14 or 1.6 percent at 69.20 a barrel, a nine-month low.