Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, with markets in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea surging, as traders remained cautious and shrugged off the uncertainty prevailing around the second round of peace talks between the U.S. and Iran. Traders also indulged in some bargain hunting after the recent war-related slump in the markets. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

The Australian stock market is notably lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous four sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,800.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 18.00 points or 0.21 percent to 8,768.50, after hitting a low of 8,729.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 12.40 points or 0.14 percent to 8,994.00. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 2 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Zip is declining more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent and Appen is down almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is tumbling almost 5 percent and Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent, while Newmont is jumping more than 6 percent and Genesis Minerals is edging up 0.3 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Atlas Arteria Group are jumping more than 12 percent after shareholders received details of a formal off-market takeover offer from Diamond Infraco 1 Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of IFM Global Infrastructure Fund, at a premium price of $4.75 per security.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.715 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 moving well above the 60,550 level, with gains in across most sectors led by index heavyweights, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 60,584.37, up 868.19 points or 1.45 percent, after touching a high of 60,652.98 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is advancing almost 1 percent and Toyota is also adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are advancing more than 3 percent, while Screen Holdings is adding more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is advancing almost 3 percent.

The major exporters are mixed. Mitsubishi Electric is gaining more than 1 percent, Canon are edging up 0.3 percent and Panasonic is advancing more than 4 percent, while Sony is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Fanuc and Keyence are skyrocketing almost 16 percent each, while SMC is soaring more than 8 percent. Fuji Electric is jumping almost 7 percent, Yaskawa Electric surging almost 7 percent and Fujikura is advancing almost 5 percent, while Disco, Shimizu, Kioxia Holdings and NGK are advancing almost more than 4 percent each. Kanadevia, Omron and OKUMA are gaining almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, Chugai Pharmaceutica is tumbling almost 15 percent and Nomura Research Institute is plunging almost 13 percent, while Nomura Holdings, ARCHION and Sumitomo Pharma are slipping more than 5 percent each. Mercari and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines are declining almost 5 percent each, while Nippon Yusen K.K. and BayCurrent are losing more than 4 percent each. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Inpex and Eisai are down more than 3 percent each, while Kawasaki Heavy Industries, IHI and Mitsubishi are slipping almost 3 percent each. In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 159 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan and South Korea are surging 2.5 and 2.3 percent, respectively. China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.2 percent each. New Zealand and Singapore are down 0.1 and 0.5 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Friday after moving mostly lower over the course of the previous session. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 more than offset yesterday's losses, reaching new record closing highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, jumping 398.09 points or 1.6 percent to 24,836.60, while the S&P 500 advanced 56.68 points or 0.8 percent to 7,165.08. The narrower Dow, on the other hand, bucked the uptrend and dipped 79.61 points or 0.2 percent to 49,230.71.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both slid by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday as the prospects of a peace deal between U.S. and Iran gather steam, lowering Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was down $1.68 or 1.75 percent at $94.17 per barrel.