Asian Markets Mostly Higher After Powell Comments

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as traders reacted to the US Fed's widely anticipated interest rate hike and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments that he does not think the U.S. is currently in a recession and added that the central bank will likely slow rate increases at some point. Asian Markets closed mixed on Wednesday.

While the Fed announced another 75-basis-point interest rate, the CME Group's FedWatch tool currently indicates a 59.2 percent chance of a 50 basis point rate hike and a 36.7 percent chance of another 75 basis points rate hike at the Fed's next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for September 20-21.

Powell also stated, "As the stance of monetary policy tightens further, it likely will become appropriate to slow the pace of increases while we assess how our cumulative policy adjustments are affecting the economy and inflation."

The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 below the 6,900 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as traders reacted to the US Fed's widely anticipated interest rate hike and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that hinted at a slowdown in the pace of rate hikes at future.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 41.10 points or 0.60 percent to 6,864.30, after touching a high of 6,889.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 51.50 points or 0.73 percent to 7,089.60. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding almost 2 percent, while OZ Minerals and Mineral Resources are advancing more than 3 percent each. Rio Tinto is edging down 0.3 percent.

Fortescue Metals has raised its annual iron ore shipments forecast for the next fiscal year on hopes of a stronger performance at its Eliwana project. It also reported record quarterly shipments.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos and Woodside Energy are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy is adding almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are surging more than 4 percent each, while Xero is adding 3.5 percent, Appen is edging up 0.5 percent and Zip is skyrocketing more than 18 percent as it is rebounding since it abandoned its planned merger with Sezzle.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is edging up 0.4 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are adding almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is adding almost 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is surging more than 5 percent and Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.3 percent.

In economic news, the value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on month in June, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at A$34.239 billion. That missed expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent and was down sharply from 0.9 percent in May. Individually, retail sales for clothing, cafes and other were up, while food, household goods and department stores were down. On a yearly basis, retail sales were up 12.0 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.698 on Thursday.

The Japanese stock market is marginally higher on Thursday after treading into the red briefly, extending the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 staying above the 27,700 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as traders reacted to the US Fed's widely anticipated interest rate hike and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that hinted at a slowdown in the pace of future rate hikes.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,784.70, up 68.95 points or 0.25 percent, after touching a high of 28,015.68 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.3 percent and Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining almost 1 percent, while Advantest is losing almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Canon is losing more than 1 percent. Panasonic is flat. Among the other major gainers, Mitsubishi Motors is skyrocketing almost 13 percent, M3 is soaring almost 10 percent, Chubu Electric Power is surging almost 9 percent, Recruit Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent and Shin-Etsu Chemical is adding almost 4 percent, while Tokyo Gas, Z Holdings and Nissan Motor are up more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, CyberAgent is losing more than 5 percent and Japan Exchange Group is down almost 4 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 135 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand is up 1.7 percent, while China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. Taiwan is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside during trading on Wednesday following the sell-off seen during Tuesday's session. The major averages more than offset Tuesday's losses, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching their best closing levels in well over a month.

The major averages pulled back off their intraday highs going into the close but held on strong gains. While the Nasdaq spiked 469.85 points or 4.1 percent to 12,032.42, the S&P 500 surged 102.56 points or 2.6 percent to 4,023.61 and the Dow jumped 436.05 points or 1.4 percent at 32,197.59.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices surged higher Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while cuts in Russian gas flows to Europe also contributed as oil's sharp rise. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September climbed $2.28 or 2.4 percent at $97.26 a barrel.