Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are digesting US Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the ECB Forum in Portugal, where he expressed satisfaction with the progress on inflation but said he wants to see more before being confident enough to start cutting interest rates. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

Powell said that policy makers want to understand whether recent weaker inflation readings indicate a true picture of underlying price pressures.

Traders also look ahead to the closely watched monthly US jobs report on Friday for more clarity about the outlook for Fed interest rates.

Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,700 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in technology and mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 14.70 points or 0.19 percent to 7,732.90, after touching a high of 7,744.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 18.50 points or 0.23 percent to 7,978.20. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.4 percent, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are gaining almost 1 percent each. Rio Tinto is edging down 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent. Santos and Woodside Energy are flat. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Zip is advancing more than 4 percent, Appen is edging up 0.4 percent and Xero is adding almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.2 percent, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.3 percent. National Australia Bank and Westpac are flat.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is gaining almost 3 percent, while Evolution Mining, Newmont and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in June, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Jufo Bank revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 51.2. That's down from 52.5 in May, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50. The survey also showed that the composite PMI faded to 50.7 in June from 52.1 in May.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.667 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Wednesday, 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 40,200 level, with strong gains in technology stocks partially offset by weakness in exporters, automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 40,425.37, up 350.68 points or 0.88 percent, after touching a high of 40,441.68 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Screen Holdings is surging almost 6 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.1percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is losing almost 1 percent, Panasonic is declining almost 2 percent and Sony is down more than 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Taiyo Yuden is soaring more than 7 percent, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Murata Manufacturing and IHI are surging more than 5 percent each. TDK is gaining almost 5 percent, while NEXON and Sumco are adding more than 4 percent each. Disco and Renesas Electronics are up almost 4 percent each, while Chugai Pharmaceutical and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are advancing more than 3 percent each. Shin-Etsu Chemical is gaining almost 3 percent.

Conversely, NTT Data is losing more than 4 percent, while Yokohama Rubber and Chiba Bank are declining more than 3 percent each.

In economic news, the services sector in Japan slipped into contraction territory in June, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 49.4. That's down from 53.8 in May, and it falls beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite index fell to 49.7 in June from 52.6 in May.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 161 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore is up 1.2 percent, while New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each. China is bucking the trend and is down 0.5 percent. On the Wall Street, stocks began climbing higher, and continued to gain in strength to eventually end the day's session a firm note after struggling for direction till a little past noon on Tuesday. Stocks moved higher after bond yields drifted down.

The major averages all ended on a firm note, with the Nasdaq outperforming the Dow and S&P 500. The Dow ended with a gain of 162.33 points or 0.41 percent at 39,331.85. The S&P 500 settled at 5,509.01, gaining 33.92 points or 0.62%, while the Nasdaq advanced 149.46 points or 0.84 percent, to 18,028.76.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted down 0.56 percent, Germany's DAX closed lower by 0.69 percent and France's CAC 40 ended down 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid easing fears about supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Beryl. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.57 or about 0.7 percent at $82.81 a barrel.