CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, on an improved outlook for interest rates after US Fed Chair Jerome Powell's dovish comments at the conference in Jackson Hole on Friday. Powell said economic risks are 'shifting' and a rate cut may be warranted. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.
He added that 'risks to inflation are tilted to the upside, and risks to employment to the downside - a challenging situation'. His remarks have increased investor confidence that the Fed will lower interest rates next month.
Following Powell's remarks, CME Group's FedWatch Tool jumped to indicate an 85.2 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point next month, up from 75.0 percent a day earlier.
The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Monday, recouping the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving up to near the 9,000.00 mark, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Financial stocks were the only weal spot.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 16.60 points or 0.19 percent to 8,984.00, after touching a high of 9,054.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 22.00 points or 0.24 percent to 9,256.30. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Friday.
Among the major miners, and Rio Tinto are adding more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing more than 4 percent, while BHP Group and Fortescue are gaining almost 3 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are adding more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy is gaining more than 2 percent. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 6 percent, Zip is soaring more than 7 percent and Appen is advancing almost 6 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.4 percent and Xero is losing more than 1 percent.
Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is adding more than 3 percent, Newmont is up more than 1 percent and Evolution Mining is gaining almost 3 percent, while Resolute Mining is losing more than 6 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are losing more than 1 percent each.
In other news, shares in Nuix are diving more than 8 percent after the software maker slipped to a loss for the full year, due to higher legal costs and signing fewer multi-year customer contracts.
Shares in Reece are tumbling more than 15 percent after reporting downbeat results as weak housing markets in Australia, New Zealand and the US weighed on demand.
Shares in Ansell are soaring more than 10 percent after the health and safety products company reported upbeat results for the full year.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.647 on Monday.
The Japanese stock market is trading notably higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 moving well above the 42,850 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 42,922.33, up 289.04 points or 0.68 percent, after touching a high of 43,201.42 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly higher on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is losing almost 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is flat.
The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic is edging up 0.3 percent and Canon is gaining more than 1 percent, while Sony is losing almost 1 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is flat.
Among the other major gainers, Toto is soaring almost 7 percent, Sumitomo Pharma is surging more than 5 percent and Mercari is gaining almost 5 percent, while Amada, Mitsui Mining & Smelting, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Recruit Holdings are adding more than 4 percent. Socionext, Nidec and Furukawa Electric are rising almost 4 percent each, while Nissan Motor and Taiyo Yuden are advancing more than 3 percent each. Shin-Etsu Chemical, Fanuc and Disco are up almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Terumo and Konami Group are losing 3.5 percent each, while BANDAI NAMCO, Tokyo Electric Power and Ryohin Keikaku are declining almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 147 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong are up 2.1 and 1.9 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.3 and 1.0 percent each. Singapore is relatively flat.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside during trading on Friday after trending lower over the past several sessions. The major averages all moved sharply higher on the day, with the Dow reaching a new record closing high.
The major averages ended the day well off their best levels but still posted strong gains. The Dow shot up 846.24 points or 1.9 percent to 45,631.74, the Nasdaq surged 396.22 points or 1.9 percent to 21,496.53 and the S&P 500 jumped 96.74 points or 1.5 percent to 6,466.91.
The major European markets also showed significant moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.
Crude oil prices rose modestly on Friday as expectations of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal waned with no progress. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.13 or 0.20 percent at $63.65 per barrel.
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