Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders react to China's central bank saying it would cut its key policy rate by 10 basis points and lower the reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points to boost growth. There is also confirmation that U.S. and Chinese officials are set to start formal trade talks this week. However, ongoing trade uncertainty continued to weigh on the markets. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

Traders looked ahead to the US Fed's latest monetary policy announcement later in the day. CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 96.8 percent chance the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will look to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

Australian shares are trading slightly higher on Wednesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying well below the 8,200 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 13.80 points or 0.17 percent to 8,165.20, after touching a high of 8,179.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.10 points or 0.17 percent to 8,383.40. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is soaring more than 9 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy, Beach energy and Santos are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Origin Energy is adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 3 percent, Appen is surging 7.5 percent and Zip is soaring more than 10 percent, while WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent and Xero is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking is edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while National Australia Bank is adding almost 2 percent. Westpac is losing more than 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, Resolute Mining is advancing almost 4 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.5 percent, while Newmont is edging down 0.2 percent and Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Nuix are tumbling more than 15 percent after withdrawing full-year guidance for revenue growth and underlying cash flow as it said customers were holding off committing to new IT contracts.

Shares in Boss Energy are surging more than 10 percent after telling investors at the Macquarie Australia conference it was well-positioned to benefit from a rising triuranium octoxide price.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.649 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Wednesday after opening in the green, snapping a seven-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling to near the 36,800 level, with weakness in exporters and automaker stocks partially offset by gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 36,813.78, down 16.91 points or 0.05 percent, after hitting a low of 36,731.39 earlier. Japanese stocks ended significantly higher on Friday ahead of the holidays on Monday and Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is declining 2.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is edging down 0.4 percent and Sony is declining almost 4 percent, while Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are losing more than 1 percent each.

Among other major losers, Otsuka is tumbling almost 6 percent, while Eisai, Daiichi Sankyo and Shionogi & Co. are losing more than 4 percent each. Renesas Electronics and Sumitomo Pharma are declining almost 4 percent each, while Kyowa Kirin, Mitsubishi Motors, Alps Alpine and Nissan Motor are slipping more than 3 percent each. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Hino Motors, Astellas Pharma and Toho are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Ryohin Keikaku and West Japan Railway are soaring more than 7 percent each, while Marubeni and Japan Airlines are surging almost 6 percent each. Sompo Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent and Nitori Holdings is adding almostb 4 percent, while Aeon and T&D Holdings are up more than 3 percent each. Itochu, M3, Mitsubishi Corp., Rakuten Group, Sumitomo, Hitachi and KDDI are advancing almost 3 percent each.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.9 percent each, while Singapore and Taiwan are down 0.2 percent each. On the Wall Street, stocks saw continued weakness during trading on Tuesday after ending Monday's volatile session mostly lower. The major averages all moved to the downside on the day, pulling back further off last Friday's one-month closing highs.

The major averages finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow slumped 389.83 points or 1.0 percent to 40,829.00, the Nasdaq slid 154.58 points or 0.9 percent to 17,689.66 and the S&P 500 fell 43.37 points or 0.8 percent to 5,606.91.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index ended the day nearly unchanged, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices showed a substantial move back to the upside during trading on Tuesday. Crude for June delivery surged $1.92 or 3.2 percent to $62.15 a barrel after tumbling to its lowest closing levels in over four years during Monday's session.