Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as some weaker than expected U.S. private sector job growth in the month of August bolstered bets the US Fed will lower interest rates later this month. The markets are pricing in a September rate cut and anticipating at least two reductions this year. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

The CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 99.4 percent chance the Fed will lower interest rates by 25 basis points at its September 16-17 meeting.

The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,850 level, with gains in financial stocks and a mixed performance across most other sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 36.10 points or 0.41 percent to 8,862.60, after touching a high of 8,880.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 39.90 points or 0.44 percent to 9,131.30. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.5 percent, while Fortescue and Mineral Resources are edging up 0.2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is losing almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is losing almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is declining more than 2 percent, while Zip are advancing more than 4 percent, Appen is adding almost 2 percent and Xero is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.5 percent and National Australia Bank is adding more than 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is declining more than 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 1 percent and Newmont is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Friday.

Extending the gains in the previous session, the Japanese market is notably higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 42,900 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, automakers and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 42,890.85, up 310.58 points or 0.73 percent, after touching a high of 43,220.94 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent and Honda is also adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 3 percent, Screen Holdings is adding almost 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.5 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing more than 1 percent, while Canon is gaining more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is advancing 2.5 percent and Panasonic is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among other major gainers, Sumitomo Pharma is jumping almost 6 percent, while TDK and Konica Minolta are surging almost 5 percent each. Nikon, Fuji Electric and Hoya are gaining more than 4 percent each, while Minebea Mitsumi, Sumitomo Chemical, Furukawa Electric, Sumco, Nidec and Olympus are adding more than 3 percent each. Lasertec and Denka are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Yamato Holdings is losing almost 5 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is up 1.1 percent, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Singapore are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent. Indonesia is down 0.2 percent. South Korea and Malaysia are relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks moved notably higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday, with the major averages all showing strong moves to the upside after showing a lack of direction early in the session. With the upward move, the S&P 500 ended the day at a new record closing high.

The major averages finished the day just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq jumped 209.97 points or 1.0 percent to 21,707.69, the S&P 500 advanced 53.82 points or 0.8 percent to 6,502.08 and the Dow climbed 350.06 points or 0.8 percent to 45,621.29.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index bucked the uptrend and dipped by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Thursday on rising oversupply concerns as OPEC plans to hike output. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.63 or 0.98 percent at $63.34 per barrel.