CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Thursday, though gains are muted amid cautious trades following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street and as investors continued to keep a close eye on the upcoming election in France. Crude oil recouped some of its overnight losses in Asian trading, while better-than-expected Japanese trade data lifted investor sentiment.
The Australian market is advancing after three straight days of losses. Investors are digesting quarterly production results from major mining and oil companies.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 21.50 points or 0.37 percent to 5,825.50, off a high of 5,826.10. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 18.80 points or 0.32 percent to 5,858.70. Banks and iron ore miners are among the leading gainers.
The major iron ore miners are mostly higher. Fortescue Metals is rising more than 1 percent, while BHP Billiton is losing 0.4 percent.
Rio Tinto reported a 3 percent decline in Pilbara iron ore production for the first quarter while shipments were flat with last year, but maintained its outlook for full-year shipments. The mining giant's shares are advancing almost 1 percent.
Iluka Resources said its revenue for the first quarter more than doubled and production also jumped following its recent takeover of Sierra Leone miner Sierra Rutile Ltd. The mineral sands miner's shares are gaining 11 percent.
Meanwhile, gold miners are weak. Newcrest Mining is down almost 3 percent. Evolution Mining reported gold production for the March quarter above its guidance despite the impact of Cyclone Debbie and said it still expects to comfortably deliver its full-year production outlook. However, the miner's shares are declining more than 1 percent.
Oil stocks are also lower after crude oil prices fell overnight. Oil Search is down almost 1 percent, while Woodside Petroleum is losing more than 1 percent after it reported a 9 percent decline in revenue for the first quarter on lower production and inventory build.
Santos recorded a 14 percent increase in sales revenue for the first quarter, while net debt dropped by $380 million to $3.1 billion following asset sales. However, the company's shares are declining almost 2 percent.
In the banking space, ANZ Banking, Westpac, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are advancing in a range of 0.2 percent to 0.8 percent.
Australian Pharmaceutical Industries recorded a 27 percent rise in its first-half profit, aided by higher revenue at its enlarged Priceline Pharmacy chain. The company's shares are adding almost 1 percent.
On the economic front, Australia will see first-quarter data for the business confidence index from NAB.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar. In early trades Thursday, the local unit was trading at US$0.7498, down from US$0.7517 on Wednesday.
The Japanese market is modestly higher, with a weaker yen and better than expected trade data lifting investor sentiment.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 84.03 points or 0.46 percent to 18,516.23, off a high of 18,523.40 earlier.
The major exporters are advancing on a weaker yen. Toshiba is higher by more than 6 percent, Sony is adding more than 2 percent and Panasonic is rising almost 1 percent.
Canon is gaining more than 3 percent after the Nikkei business daily reported that the company's operating profit for the March quarter will almost double from last year.
Automakers Toyota and Honda are adding more than 1 percent each. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are gaining more than 2 percent each.
In the oil space, Inpex is down almost 1 percent and JXTG Holdings is declining 0.4 percent after crude oil prices fell overnight.
Among the other major gainers, Advantest is rising 4 percent, Mitsui Mining & Smelting is advancing almost 4 percent and Subaru Corp. is adding more than 3 percent. On the flip side, Kirin Holdings and Maruha Nichiro are losing more than 2 percent each.
In economic news, the Ministry of Finance said that Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 614.722 billion yen in March, down 17.5 percent on year. The headline figure topped forecasts for a surplus of 605.6 billion yen.
Exports during March climbed 12.0 percent on year to 7.229 trillion yen, beating forecasts for an increase of 6.2 percent. Imports added an annual 15.8 percent to 6.614 trillion yen versus expectations for a gain of 10.2 percent.
Japan will also provide March numbers for department store and convenience store sales.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 108 yen-range on Thursday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Malaysia are all modestly higher. New Zealand and Taiwan are marginally lower.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as traders reacted to the latest earnings news as well a steep drop by the price of crude oil. Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, with lingering geopolitical uncertainty keeping some traders on the sidelines.
While the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 13.56 points or 0.2 percent to 5,863.03, the Dow slid 118.79 points or 0.6 percent to a two-month closing low of 20,404.49 and the S&P 500 dipped 4.02 points or 0.2 percent to 2,338.17.
The major European markets also ended mixed on Wednesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dropped by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil futures plunged to the lowest in two weeks Wednesday, after government data showed an unexpectedly small drop in U.S. oil inventories. WTI crude for May delivery tumbled $1.97 or 3.8 percent to $50.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In Asian trades Thursday, crude oil is rising $0.31 or 0.61 percent to $50.75.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX