Asian Markets Mostly Higher

Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Monday following positive cues from Wall Street on Friday on the back of upbeat jobs data, easing bond yields and support from crude oil prices. The markets are also upbeat on a stimulus-driven global economic recovery after the US Senate passed the long awaited $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on Saturday and was sent back to the House for voting. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.

The Australian stock market is advancing on Monday, recouping some losses from the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying around the 6,800 level, boosted by gains in major mining and banking stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 65.20 points or 0.97 percent to 6,776.00, after rising to a high of 6,835.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is rising 64.90 points or 0.93 percent to 7,007.90. Australian stocks closed lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is advancing almost 3 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is gaining more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher after crude oil prices hit a one-year high on Friday. Oil Search is rising almost 3 percent and Woodside Petroleum is adding more than 2 percent, while Santos is losing more than 1 percent.

The big four banks are higher. National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are adding more than 1 percent, while Westpac is higher by nearly 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 2 percent.

Gold miners are also higher, with Newcrest Mining rising more than 3 percent, Evolution Mining up more than 2 percent and Northern Star Resources gaining almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.770 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is higher on Monday, with the benchmark Nikkei index a tad below the 29,000 level, following positive cues from Wall Street on Friday on the back of stronger than expected jobs data. The broad-based gains in the market are led by energy, financial and real estate stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 28,926.03, up 61.71 points or 0.21 percent to, after touching a high of 29,255.90 earlier. Japanese shares ended lower for the second straight day on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is advancing more than 2 percent and Toyota is up almost 1 percent.

The major exporters are also mostly higher. Panasonic is higher by almost 1 percent, while Sony is edging down 0.1 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 1 percent, and Canon is gaining almost 5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is up 0.5 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is rising more than 3 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 4 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Inpex and JFE Holdings are climbing more than 6 percent, while Kobe Steel is gaining almost 6 percent. Tokyo Electric Power, Toyo Seikan group, Nomura Holdings, JCG Holdings and Mitsui E&S Holdings are adding more than 5 percent.

Conversely, Ricoh is losing almost 5 percent and Sharp is lower by almost 3 percent. NEC, Cyber Agent and Kawasaki Kisen are all declining nearly 2 percent each.

In economic news, the value of overall bank lending in Japan was up 6.2 percent on year in February, the Bank of Japan said on Monday, coming in at 578.104 trillion yen. That followed the downwardly revised 6.0 percent increase in January (originally 6.1 percent).

Japan had a current account surplus of 646.8 billion yen in January, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday, down 2.3 percent on year. That missed forecasts for a surplus of 1,229.6 billion yen following the 1,165.6 billion yen surplus in December.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 108 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore is adding 1.7 percent and Malaysia is gaining 1.3 percent, while South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia are all advancing. Meanwhile, New Zealand, China and Hong Kong are lower by between 0.3 and 0.6 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks went on a roller-coaster ride during the trading session on Friday before ending the day sharply higher. With the strong upward move on the day, the major averages partly offset the steep drop seen over the three previous sessions.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled to its lowest intraday level in nearly three months before rebounding to end the day up 196.68 points or 1.6 percent at 12,920.15. The Dow also jumped 572.16 points or 1.9 percent to 31,496.30 and the S&P 500 surged up 73.47 points or 2 percent to 3,841.94.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slipped by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.8 percent and the German DAX Index slumped by 1 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday, extending gains after OPEC decided to maintain its output reduction agreement through April. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $2.26 or 3.5 percent at $66.09 a barrel, the highest settlement since June 2019. WTI futures gained more than 7 percent in the week.

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