Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious amid raising fears of a brewing global trade war and its impact on inflation. They also reacted to US Fed Chair Jerome Powell's cautious remarks on interest-rate cuts and awaited the release of U.S. CPI data for additional clues on future monetary policy. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

Powell told the Senate Banking Committee the central bank does "not need to be in a hurry" to adjust its policy stance. Powell added that interest rates have been lowered by a full percentage point since last September, describing the Fed's current policy stance as "significantly less restrictive than it had been."

Powell said, if the labor market were to weaken unexpectedly or inflation were to fall more quickly than anticipated, we can ease policy accordingly."

The Fed's next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for March 18-19, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 95.5 percent chance the central bank will once again maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 4.25 to 4.50 percent.

The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Wednesday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 8,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in energy and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and technology stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 28.30 points or 0.33 percent to 8,512.30, after hitting a low of 8,469.70 and a high of 8,513.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 24.60 points or 0.28 percent to 8,776.20. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy, Beach energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is slipping 2.5 percent and Xero is declining more than 2 percent, while WiseTech Global and Appen are losing almost 1 percent each. Zip is gaining almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 2 percent, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are adding more than 1 percent each. ANZ Banking is flat.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is declining more than 4 percent, Newmont is losing almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.4 percent and Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent, while Evolution Mining is gaining 1.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Bravura Solutions are skyrocketing more than 21 percent after the wealth management tech provider announced a special dividend, due to a turnaround in financial performance.

Shares in Computershare are soaring more than 14 percent after the company posted a 28 percent increase in management earnings to $171.2 million in the first half of fiscal 2025, and raised its dividend.

Shares in Amotiv are tumbling almost 9 percent after the automotive parts supplier reported down beat results for the first half of fiscal 2025, as margins fell due to acquisitions, and higher freight costs.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.629 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly higher in post-holiday trading on Wednesday, adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 38,800 level, with gains index heavyweights, exporter and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,863.82, up 62.65 points or 0.16 percent, after touching a high of 39,102.65 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly higher on Monday ahead of a holiday on Tuesday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.3 percent each, while Screen Holdings is flat.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.5 percent, while Mizuho Financial is losing more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 1 percent.

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

Among other major gainers, M3 is skyrocketing more than 15 percent, Fujikura is soaring more than 9 percent and Furukawa Electric is surging more than 5 percent, while Sumitomo Electric Industries and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are gaining almost 4 percent each. Nidec is adding more than 3 percent and Mitsubishi Chemical Group is advancing almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Sumco is plunging more than 7 percent and Nissan Motor is slipping more than 5 percent, while Taiyo Yuden and Daiichi Sankyo are losing more than 4 percent each. NEXON, Mazda Motor, Socionext, Nomura Holdings and Subaru are declining almost 4 percent each. Yokogawa Electric, Socionext, Obayash and Kyocera are declining almost 3 percent each, while IHI, Disco, Mitsubishi Motors and Minebea Mitsumi are sliding more than 3 percent each. Japan Exchange Group is down almost 3 percent.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 1.8 percent, while China, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. New Zealand is down 0.1 percent. Singapore is relatively flat.

On the Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Tuesday following the rebound seen during Monday's session. The major averages swung back and forth across the unchanged line as the day progressed before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the Nasdaq fell 70.41 points or 0.4 percent to 19,643.86, the S&P 500 crept up 2.06 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,068.50 and the Dow rose 123.24 points or 0.3 percent to 44,593.65.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher Tuesday amid concerns about a possible drop in crude supplies due to U.S. sanctions on Russian oil, while a weaker dollar contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose $1.00 or 1.4 percent at $73.32 a barrel.