Asian Markets Track Global Markets Higher

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, amid optimism about an interest rate cut by the US Fed in September ahead of the release of closely watched US consumer price inflation data later in the day. The data is expected to show inflation continued to moderate in June. Asian Markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

During a congressional testimony, US Fed Chair Jerome Powell said more good data would strengthen the central bank’s confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward its 2 percent target and lead to a potential interest rate cut.

Powell also warned of the risk that leaving interest rates at an elevated level for too long could jeopardize economic growth. He also noted that reducing policy restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment.

The Australian market is significantly higher on Thursday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to be a tad below the 7,900 level, with gains across most sectors led by gold miners, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 69.80 points or 0.89 percent to 7,886.60, after touching a high of 7,902.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 70.90 points or 0.88 percent to 8,129.20. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals and BHP Group are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources is adding more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Santos is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Xero is gaining more than 3 percent, Appen is adding more than 2 percent, Zip is advancing almost 3 percent and WiseTech Global up almost 1 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.3 percent and National Australia Bank is adding almost 2 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is adding more than 2 percent, Resolute Mining is rising more than 3 percent and Newmont is advancing almost 4 percent.

In other news, shares in Telix Pharmaceuticals are soaring 12 percent after the biotech flagged changes to regulations in the US around payments for diagnostic radiotherapy treatments.

Shares in Uranium miners Boss Energy and Paladin Energy are surging almost 7 percent after the price for the nuclear fuel spiked.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.676 on Thursday.

Extending the gains in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is significantly higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 42,100 level to all-time highs, with gains in index heavyweights and exporter stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 42,179.84, up 347.85 points or 0.83 percent, after touching an all-time high of 42,426.77 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.1 percent, while Honda is adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is declining more than 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.3 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging up 0.1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Canon is edging up 0.4 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent, Sony is adding 3.5 percent and Panasonic is advancing more than 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, NTN is gaining almost 4 percent, while Dowa Holdings, Trend Micro, Mitsubishi Motors, Sumco and Nitto Denko are more than 3 percent each. Alps Alpine, Subaru, Murata Manufacturing, Shionogi & Co. and Sumitomo Chemical are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Mercari is losing almost 6 percent.

In economic news, the value of core machine orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 3.2 percent on month in May, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday – coming in at 857.8 billion yen. That misses forecasts for an increase of 0.9 percent following the 2.9 percent decline in April.

On a yearly basis, orders jumped 10.8 percent – exceeding expectations for 7.2 percent and up sharply from 0.7 percent in the previous month. For the second quarter of 2024, core machine orders are seen lower by 1.6 percent on quarter and 2.8 percent on year at 2,581.0 billion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 161 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are up 1.3 percent each, while New Zealand, China, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia are higher by between 0.3 and 0.8 percent each. Indonesia is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday following the lackluster performance seen in the previous session. With the strong upward move, the S&P 500 closed above 5,600 for the first time ever.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the day near their highs of the session. The Nasdaq surged 218.16 points or 1.2 percent to 18,647.45, the Dow shot up 429.39 points or 1.1 percent to 39,721.36 and the S&P 500 jumped 56.93 points or 1.0 percent to 5,633.91.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both jumped by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices settled higher Wednesday after data showed a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $0.69 at $82.10 a barrel.

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