Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday, following the mixed from Wall Street overnight, as traders seemed cautious and reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched monthly US jobs report later in the day for cues on the outlook for interest rates. They also await U.S. President Donald Trump's next move on trade curbs ahead of China's tariff deadline next week. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

The Australian stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Friday after opening in the red and briefly moving in to the green, snapping the three-session winning streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 8,500 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors. Energy stocks are the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 5.30 points or 0.06 percent to 8,515.40, after hitting a low of 8,498.70 and a high of 8,532.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 0.70 points or 0.01 percent to 8,784.40. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.3 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding almost 2 percent. Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy, Beach energy and Santos are losing almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is losing almost 1 percent and Xero is edging down 0.2 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent, Appen is adding more than 3 percent and Zip is edging up 0.2 percent

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is flat. Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent, Resolute Mining is declining more than 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources and Newmont are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each.

In other news, shares in Domino's Pizza are skyrocketing more than 22 percent after the company announced the closure of 205 loss-making stores, mostly in Japan.

Shares in Nick Scali are jumping more than 13 percent after the company posted net profit for the half-year to December that exceeded guidance.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.629 on Friday.

Giving up some of the gains in the previous three sessions, the Japanese market is notably lower on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 38,900 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,870.64, down 195.89 points or 0.50 percent, after touching a high of 38,954.95 and a low of 38,753.20 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Thursday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is declining almost 4 percent and Screen Holdings is losing more than 2 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing more than 1 percent, Panasonic is edging down 0.5 percent and Canon is declining more than 2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among other major losers, Konica Minolta is plunging almost 9 percent, Nikon and Kyowa Kirin are losing more than 5 percent, while Japan Steel Works and JFE Holdings are declining almost 4 percent each. Lasertec and Hoya are slipping more than 3 percent each, while Kanadevia, NTT Data, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, FUJIFILM, Itochu and Daikin Industries are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Mercar is skyrocketing almost 21 percent, Renesas Electronics is surging more than 7 percent, Kao is gaining more than 4 percent and Fanuc is adding almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the average of household spending in Japan was up 2.3 percent on month in December, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday - standing at 352,633 yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 0.5 percent following the 0.4 percent increase in November.

On a yearly basis, household spending advanced 2.7 percent - again topping expectations for a gain of 0.5 percent after slipping 0.4 percent in the previous month. The average of monthly income per household stood at 1,179,259 yen, up 2.9 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 151 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each, while South Korea and Indonesia are down 0.1 and 1.6 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Thursday, with the major averages swinging back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing mixed.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new highs for the session going into the end the day, closing higher for the third straight session. The Nasdaq climbed 99.66 points or 0.5 percent to 19,791.99 and the S&P 500 rose 22.09 points or 0.4 percent to 6,083.57, but the narrower Dow fell 125.65 points or 0.3 percent to 44,747.63.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index shot up by 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both surged by 1.5 percent.

Crude oil prices saw further downside on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump repeated his pledge to increase U.S. oil production in an effort to lower prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery slid $0.42 or 0.6 percent to a one-month low of $70.61 a barrel.