Asian Markets Mostly Higher After Fed Rate Cut

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, after the US Fed delivered the widely expected decision to lower interest rates by a quarter point and signaled no intention to skip cutting rates. The Bank of England also cut interest rates. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed during his post-meeting press conference that rates are not on "any preset course" and that the central bank will make future decisions "meeting by meeting" to deal with the risks to both sides of the dual mandate.

Powell added that the central bank will evaluate data to adjust the "pace and destination" of rates.

The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Friday, adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to a tad near the 8,300 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Energy stocks were the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 68.40 points or 0.83 percent to 8,294.70, after touching a high of 8,319.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 70.60 points or 0.83 percent to 8,552.20. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 2 percent. Mineral Resources is losing more than 2 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Zip is adding almost 4 percent and Appen is surging almost 7 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining almost 2 percent each. Afterpay-owner Block is tumbling almost 7 percent after its results missed market expectations.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is adding more than 1 percent. National Australia Bank is edging down 0.3 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is advancing almost 4 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding more than 3 percent, Newmont is up almost 2 percent, Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is rising more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.666 on Friday.

Reversing the losses in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is moving above the 39,500 level, with gains in index heavyweights and exporter stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,515.36, up 133.95 points or 0.34 percent, after touching a high of 39,818.41 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining 3.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is declining 2.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.5 percent, while Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent.

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

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Canon is edging up 0.1 percent. Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Ajinomoto is soaring more than 9 percent, Mitsubishi Motors is surging almost 6 percent, Nomura Research Institute is advancing almost 5 percent, while Keisei Electric Railway and NTT Data is gaining more than 4 percent each. Recruit Holdings, Fujitsu and ZOZO are adding almost 4 percent each, while Terumo, BANDAI NAMCO, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Japan Steel Works, Chugai Pharmaceutical and Secom are rising almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Taiyo Yuden is plummeting almost 15 percent, while Shiseido and Kanadevia are plunging more than 7 percent each. Fujikura and Nissan Motor are declining almost 7 percent each, while UBE is down more than 5 percent, Oji Holdings is slipping almost 5 percent, Mazda Motor is sliding more than 4 percent and Teijin is tumbling more than 3 percent. JFE Holdings, Suzuki Motor and Kao are sliding almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the average of household spending in Japan was down 1.1 percent on year in September, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday - coming in at 287,963 yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 1.8 percent following the 1.9 percent drop in August. On a monthly basis, spending fell 1.3 percent - shy of expectations for a decline of 0.7 percent following the 2.0 percent increase in the previous month. The average of monthly income per household stood at 493,942 yen down 1.6 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 153 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia are up 0.2 and 1.4 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.2 and 1.4 percent each. Hong Kong and Malaysia are relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks showed another strong move to the upside during trading on Thursday after moving sharply higher over the two previous sessions. With the continued advance, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the charge, surging by 285.99 points or 1.5 percent to 19,269.46, while the S&P 500 climbed 44.06 points or 0.7 percent to 5,973.10. The narrower Dow, on the other hand, spent the day lingering near the unchanged line before closing down just 0.59 points at 43,729.34.

Meanwhile, European stocks moved mostly higher on the day. The German DAX Index surged by 1.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and declined by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices settled notably higher on Thursday as traders weighed the potential impact of Donald Trump's presidency on the geopolitical scene, against the interest rate cut announcement by the Federal Reserve. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December closed up $0.67 or 0.93 percent at $72.36 a barrel.