CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian markets are up on Friday, tracking cues from Wall Street where the Dow recorded its biggest single day gains in three years overnight amid hopes the Fed will not hike interest rates anytime soon.
The Australian stock market is notably higher, with investors indulging in some hectic buying across the board.
Mining, energy, financial, consumer discretionary and industrials stocks are mostly up sharply.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is up 126.3 points or 2.4 percent at 5,377.1. The broader All Ordinaries index is at 5,310.8, up 121.1 points or 2.3 percent from previous close.
Among bank stocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac (WBK) are moving up 2.5 to 2.7 percent, while ANZ Bank is advancing 1.7 percent. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Bank of Queensland are up 2 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.
Among top miners, BHP Billiton (BHP), Rio Tinto (RIO), Newcrest Mining and Fortescue Metals are moving up 2.3 to 3.6 percent.
In the oil sector, Santos is rising 2.3 percent after the company said it has secured an additional three-year, $1 billion bilateral bank loan facility.
Woodside Petroleum, Origin Energy and Caltex Australia are up 2 to 3 percent, while Oil Search is up 0.5 percent.
Downer EDI is moving up 5.5 percent after the company said it has won a $2 billion contract for work on Adani Group's controversial Carmichael Coal Mine project in Central Queensland.
Mineral Resources is rising nearly 10 percent. Alumina (AWC), Beach Energy, Bluescope Steel and Boral are up 5.3 to 6 percent.
Adelaide Brighton, Flight Centre Travel Group, Henderson Group, CSR, ALS, Amcor, Seek, Incitec Pivot, Sydney Airport and Iluka Resources are gaining 3.5 to 4.7 percent.
Aurizon Holdings, Echo Entertainment Group and Leighton Holdings are also up sharply.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is coming off 4-1/2 year lows. In early trades, the local unit was quoting at US$0.8156, up nearly 0.3 percent from Thursday's close of US$0.8135.
The Japanese stock market rallied sharply, extending previous session's gains, tracking a positive lead from Wall Street. A weaker yen also contributed to the upside.
Meanwhile, investors are looking ahead to the Bank of Japan's interest rate decision, due later in the day. The central bank had surprised the markets with a massive stimulus a couple of months ago.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 330.1 points or 1.9 percent at 17,540.1 when the morning session ended.
Ricoh Co. shares jumped 7.4 percent. Isuzu Motors, Tokyo Electron, Daiwa Securities Group, Sumitomo Realty & Development, IHI Corp. and Mitsubishi Estate gained 4 to 6 percent.
Hino Motors, Mitsui Fudosan, NH Foods, Fukuoka Financial Group, Japan Tobacco, Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Mitsubishi Motors, Fujifilm Holdings, Shinsei Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (SMFG), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU), Nomura Holdings, Sony Financial Holdings and T&D Holdings were up 3 to 4 percent at the break.
Central Japan Railway, Komatsu, Sumco Corp., Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Chiba Bank, Daikin Industries, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Astellas Pharma, Nikon Corp., Shizuoka Bank, Bank of Yokohama, Softbank Corp., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Sapporo Holdings were all up over 2 percent.
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding gained 1 percent after the company said it will invest about 17 billion yen into its domestic manufacturing bases.
Among the losers, Sony Corp. (SNE) declined 2.7 percent and Yamato Holdings was down 1.6 percent, while Showa Denko KK, Teijin and Shiseido Co were lower by 1 to 1.3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 118 yen level in early deals in Tokyo. The dollar is currently trading at 119.02 yen, up from Thursday's close of 118.68.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore are up sharply. Shanghai, New Zealand and Indonesia are also up with solid gains.
On Wall Street, stocks rose sharply on Thursday, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session. A positive reaction to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement continued to contribute to the strength in the market. Buying interest was also generated by a Labor Department report showing an unexpected drop in weekly jobless claims in the week ended December 13.
The major averages ended the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow soared 421.3 points or 2.4 percent to 17,778.2, the Nasdaq jumped 104.1 points or 2.2 percent to 4,748.4 and the S&P 500 surged up 48.3 points or 2.4 percent to 2,061.2.
Major European markets too closed with strong gains on Thursday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index shot up by 2 percent, the German DAX index and the French CAC 40 index soared by 2.8 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil plunged to end over 4 percent lower on Thursday, on renewed worries over the oversupply situation amid demand growth concerns, even as U.S. stockpiles declined albeit less than expected last week.
Crude oil futures for January delivery ended down $2.36 or 4.2 percent at $54.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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