Asian Markets Trade Mixed

Following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Thursday, as reacted to data showing Chinese consumer price inflation grew less than expected in January and producer prices continued to fall. They also largely refrained from making significant moves amid uncertainty about interest rates cuts. Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.

While CME Group’s FedWatch Tool suggests the chances of March rate cut are just 18.5 percent, the US Fed is still expected to begin lowering rates sometime in the coming months.

The Australian market is notably higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 7,600 level, with gains in technology and financial stocks partially offset by losses in energy and gold mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 40.60 points or 0.53 percent to 7,656.40, after touching a high of 7,662.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 41.20 points or 0.53 percent to 7,892.10. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 1 percent. BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, Santos is down more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent, while Beach energy is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Appen and Xero are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.5 percent, Zip is adding more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is advancing almost 4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is sliding almost 2 percent, Newmont is edging down 0.5 percent and Resolute Mining is declining more than 2 percent, while Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.2 percent.

In other news, shares in Cochlear are up almost 5 percent after the ear implant maker lifted its profit guidance for financial 2024.

Shares in AGL Energy soared 11 percent after it upgraded operating profit guidance for the full year.

In economic news, the total number of building permits issued in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 9.5 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday – coming in at 13,085. That was in line with expectations following the downwardly revised 0.3 percent increase in November (originally 1.6 percent).

Private house approvals fell 0.5 percent on month to 8,416 – again matching forecasts following the 4.3 percent contraction in the previous month. The value of new residential building fell 3.8 percent to A$6.03 billion, while the value of non-residential building fell 10.6 percent to A$4.32 billion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Thursday.

Recouping the losses in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is sharply higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving 600 points to be above the 36,700 mark, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 36,738.42, up 618.50 points or 1.71 percent, after touching a high of 36,741.87 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging almost 9 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 2 percent and Honda is adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 5 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are adding almost 2 percent each.

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

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

Among other major gainers, Kyowa Kirin is skyrocketing almost 18 percent, Renesas Electronics is surging almost 6 percent and NTT Data is gaining more than 5 percent, while Terumo, Taiyo Yuden and Orix are adding more than 4 percent each. Hitachi Zosen is advancing more than 3 percent, while Subaru and Nintendo are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, DeNA is plummeting almost 12 percent, Mitsui Mining & Smelting is plunging almost 10 percent, Casio Computer is sliding more than 8 percent, Suzuki Motor is declining almost 8 percent and AGC is losing more than 6 percent, while Chubu Electric Power, Tokyo Electric Power and Taisei are down more than 3 percent each. Kao, Comsys Holdings and Sharp are slipping almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, Japan posted a seasonally adjusted current account surplus of 744.3 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. That missed expectations for a surplus of 1.018 trillion yen and was down from 1.926 trillion yen in November. Exports were up 9.4 percent on year at 9.538 trillion yen, while imports were down an annual 5.4 percent at 9.422 trillion yen for a trade surplus of 115.5 billion yen.

The capital account saw a deficit of 24.2 billion yen, while the financial account had a surplus of 743.7 billion yen. For all of 2023, the current account surplus was 20.629 trillion yen – up from 10.714 trillion yen in 2022.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, South Korea and Malaysia are higher by between 0.4 and 0.8 percent each, while New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore are lower by between 0.3 and 0.7 percent each. Indonesia is closed for Ascension of the Prophet Muhammad day and Taiwan remains closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Wednesday after ending Tuesday’s choppy trading session modestly higher. The Dow and the S&P 500 set new record closing highs, with the latter reaching an intraday peak just shy of 5,000.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The S&P 500 climbed 40.83 points or 0.8 percent to4,995.06 and the Dow rose 156.00 points or 0.4 percent to 38,677.36, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 147.65 points or 1.0 percent to 15,756.64.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index both slid by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Wednesday after official data showed a notable drop in gasoline stockpiles last week in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.55 at $73.86 a barrel, gaining for a third straight session.