Asian Markets Mostly Higher

Asian stock markets are mostly in the green on Wednesday, after the broad sell-off on Tuesday and following the mixed cues from the global markets overnight. Traders continued to cash in on recent strength in the markets amid optimism about the outlook for interest rates that led to overbought conditions. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.

While the US Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged in the coming months, traders are looking for more evidence to solidify hopes of a rate cut in the near future.

Australian shares are trading sharply higher on Wednesday, recovering from the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving well above the 7,100 level, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors led by technology stocks. Gold miners were the weak spot amid tumbling gold prices.

The market responded positively to domestic data that showed the economy expanded better than expected in the third quarter.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 105.50 points or 1.49 percent to 7,167.10, after touching a high of 7,168.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 103.20 points or 1.42 percent to 7,373.00. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Tuesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos and Woodside Energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Appen and Xero are adding almost 2 percent each. Zip is losing more than 2 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent, Newmont is declining almost 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is sliding almost 3 percent, Resolute Mining is slipping more than 2 percent and Evolution Mining is plunging more than 15 percent after it reportedly raised $525 million in a placing of 138.2 million new shares to institutional investors at $3.80 per share.

In other news, shares in Perpetual are gaining more than 4 percent after the fund manager announced a strategic review of its corporate trust and wealth management business.

In economic news, Australia’s gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2023, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent and was down from 0.4 percent in the previous three months. On an annualized basis, GDP climbed 2.1 percent – unchanged from the second quarter and beating forecasts for a gain of 1.7 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.659 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply higher on Wednesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous three sessions, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight. The Nikkei 225 moved above the 33,300 level, with gains across most sectors, led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 33,339.26, up 663.44 points or 1.72 percent, after touching a high of 33,343.51 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is advancing more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining 1.5 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is advancing almost 3 percent, while Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are adding almost 1 percent each. Panasonic is flat.

Among other major gainers, Toppan Holdings is soaring almost 8 percent, Tokyo Electric Power is surging more than 5 percent, Lasertec is advancing almost 5 percent and Nitori Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent, while Daiwa Securities, Credit Saison and Fujitsu are adding more than 3 percent each. Omron, NEC, Yokohama Rubber, Sompo Holdings, Mitsui Fudosan, Chugai Pharmaceutical and Hoya are all up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 147 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are higher by between 0.3 and 0.7 percent each, while Singapore and Malaysia are down between 0.1 and 0.3 percent each. China and Indonesia are relatively flat.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Tuesday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing narrowly mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 44.42 points or 0.3 percent to 14,229.91, the S&P 500 edged down 2.60 points or 0.1 percent to 4,567.18 and the Dow dipped 79.88 points or 0.2 percent to 36,124.56.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index advanced by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices dropped on Tuesday for a fourth straight session, on lingering concerns about the outlook for demand and on disappointment over the small size of additional output cuts announced by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $0.72 or 1 percent at $72.32 a barrel.

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