Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, driven by China after multiple Chinese government departments rolled out medium- and long-term investment plan with clear measures to boost capital market confidence. Concerns about tariff threats by US President Donald Trump limited market's upside. Asian Markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

The Australian market is trading notably lower on Thursday, giving up some of the gains in the previous three sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,400 level, with weakness in mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 53.10 points or 0.63 percent to 8,376.70, after hitting a low of 8,370.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 53.30 points or 0.61 percent to 8,627.20. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are losing almost 2 percent each, while Rio Tinto is down more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is declining more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is adding more than 2 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, WiseTech Global is edging down 0.1 percent and Appen is losing almost 2 percent, while Zip is gaining 2.5 percent and Xero is adding 1.5 percent. Afterpay owner Block is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources is losing more than 2 percent, Newmont is slipping almost 2 percent, Evolution Mining is declining more than 5 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.2 percent, while Resolute Mining is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.627 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is modestly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 39,700 level, with gains in some index heavyweights and exporters. Traders also remain cautious ahead of the interest rate decision on Friday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,830.11, up 183.86 points or 0.46 percent, after touching a high of 39,898.65 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is declining more than 1 percent and Honda is edging down 0.5 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are all losing almost 1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic and Canon are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Sony is adding almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among other major gainers, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is surging more than 5 percent, while Fujikura, Nidec and Nintendo are gaining more than 3 percent each. NTT Data, Oji Holdings and IHI are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Fuji Electric is losing more than 3 percent, while Tokyo Electric Power and Hino Motors are declining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, Japan posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of 130.936 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. That beat expectations for a deficit of 55.0 billion yen following the 110.3 billion yen shortfall in November.

Exports climbed 2.8 percent on year to 9.910 trillion yen - exceeding expectations for an increase of 2.3 percent after rising 3.8 percent in the previous month. Imports gained an annual 1.8 percent to 9.779 trillion yen versus forecasts for an increase of 2.6 percent following the 3.8 percent decline a month earlier.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-156 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China is up 1.4 percent, while New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.7 percent each. South Korea and Malaysia are down 0.8 and 0.6 percent, respectively. Taiwan is closed for the long Lunar New Year break. On Wall Street, stocks closed on a firm note on Wednesday as investors reacted positively to some upbeat earnings updates and corporate news, and on continued optimism about a few interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year. Worries about tariff threats lingered but investors largely shrugged off concerns and kept picking up stocks.

The major averages all closed on a strong note. The Dow closed up 130.92 points or 0.3 percent, at 44,156.73. The S&P 500 gained 37.13 points or 0.61 percent, settling at 6,086.37, while the Nasdaq climbed 252.56 points or 1.28 percent, to 20,009.34.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index surged by 1.01 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down 0.04 percent and the French CAC 40 Index gained 0.86 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday, extending recent weakness on concerns about excess supply in the market due to the Trump administration's plan to maximize oil and gas production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $0.39 or 0.5 percent at $75.44 a barrel, extending losses to a fifth straight session.