Asian Markets Trade Mixed

Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders trimmed their bets on US Fed interest rate cuts this year amid following the largely upbeat batch of US economic data last week. A slew of Chinese data last week backed calls for more stimulus to boost the economy. Persisting worries about geopolitical tensions weighed on the markets. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

Last week, U.S. retail sales increased slightly more than expected in September and jobless claims unexpectedly fell, while industrial production decreased in September, reversing output growth in August, separate reports showed.

The Australian stock market is currently trading notably higher on Monday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 8,300.00 level, with gains across most sectors led by gold miner stock and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 53.20 points or 0.64 percent to 8,336.40, after touching of 8,349.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 50.40 points or 0.59 percent to 8,601.60. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 1 percent, Mineral dived almost 11 percent as the board said it had “full confidence” in managing director Chris Ellison following an investigation by The Australian Financial Review that uncovered how he allegedly evaded tax for years.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.1 percent, Beach energy is gaining more than 2 percent and Santos is adding more than 1 percent. Woodside Energy is up almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 2 percent, Xero is adding more than 1 percent and Zip is edging up 0.4 percent, while Appen is declining almost 4 percent and WiseTech Global is tumbling more than 11 percent after its board initiated a review of allegations against founder and chief executive Richard White by a sexual partner, which ended up in him paying her millions of dollars to settle the matter.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining 3.5 percent, Resolute Mining is advancing almost 4 percent and Gold Road Resources rising more than 3 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Newmont are adding almost 2 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, while National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.672 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Monday, adding to the gains in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 39,000 mark, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with gains is index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,110.95, up 129.20 or 0.33 percent, after touching a high of 39,048.44 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Advantest is adding more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down more than 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.5 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are edging up 0.5 percent each, while Panasonic is gaining almost 1 percent. Canon is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among other major gainers, Rakuten Group is gaining almost 4 percent and M3 is adding more than 3 percent, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and LY are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sumitomo Pharma is losing more than 4 percent, while Tokyo Electric Power and NEC are down almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore are lower by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each, while China, South Korea and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each. Malaysia is respectively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Friday after ending the previous session little changed. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the charge, while the Dow ended the day modestly higher at a new record closing high.

The Nasdaq climbed 115.94 points or 0.6 percent to 18,489.55 and the S&P 500 rose 23.20 points or 0.4 percent to a new record closing high of 5,864.67. The narrower Dow recovered from an initial pullback to end the day up by 36.86 points or 0.1 percent at 43,275.91.

Meanwhile, the major European markets 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 German DAX Index both climbed by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday following downward revisions in oil demand forecast from OPEC and the International Energy Agency. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November sank $1.45 or 2.05 percent at $69.22 a barrel. WTI crude futures fell more than 8 percent in the week.