Asian Markets A Sea Of Green

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are a sea of green on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders remain cautiously optimistic on an improved outlook for interest rates after data showing a slower than expected pace of acceleration in US consumer price inflation raised hopes for more interest rate cuts by the US Fed next year. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

Traders also welcomed the news that a US government shutdown was averted over the weekend.

The Australian stock market is currently trading sharply higher on Monday, snapping a three-session losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving up to near the 8,200.00 level, with gains across most sectors led by technology, mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 113.00 points or 1.40 percent to 8,180.00, after touching a high of 8,177.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 114.60 points or 1.38 percent to 8,431.30. Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 2 percent. Rio Tinto is edging down 0.4 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos and Beach energy are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is adding almost 2 percent and Woodside Energy is advancing 1.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 3 percent, Zip is surging almost 7 percent, Xero is adding more than 1 percent, Appen is advancing more than 7 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding almost 1 percent, Newmont is advancing more than 3 percent, while Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining are up almost 2 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are adding more than 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.626 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly higher on Monday, snapping a six-session losing streak. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 39,000 mark, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,043.59, up 341.69 or 0.88 percent, after touching a high of 39,102.05 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 2 percent and Toyota is also adding almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent, Advantest is advancing almost 4 percent and Screen Holdings is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.4 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Canon is edging up 0.4 percent and Sony is adding almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Hino Motors is gaining more than 4 percent and Mitsubishi Motors is adding more than 3 percent, while Sharp, Chugai Pharmaceutical and Recruit Holdings are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is up 2.7 percent, while Singapore, South Korea and Indonesia are higher by between 1.0 and 1.5 percent each. New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia are up by between 0.2 and 0.5 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Friday after ending the previous session little changed. The major averages recovered from initial weakness and climbed firmly into positive territory as the day progressed.

The Dow surged 498.02 points or 1.2 percent to 42,840.26, adding to the slim gain posted in Thursday's session, when the blue chip index snapped a ten-day losing streak. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also jumped 199.83 points or 1.0 percent to 19,572.60 and the S&P 500 shot up 63.77 points or 1.1 percent to 5,930.85.

Meanwhile, European stocks climbed well off their worst levels but still ended the day modestly lower. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both slipped by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Friday as the dollar came off two-year highs after soft PCE readings eased concerns about the outlook for interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures perked $0.08 or about 0.1 percent to $69.46 a barrel. Oil futures shed 2.5 percent in the week.