CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain optimistic that the US Fed will lower interest rates by at least a quarter point later this month after a report showed job openings in the U.S. fell to their lowest level in ten months in July. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.
Following the data showing further signs of softening US labor market conditions, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 95.4 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point at its September meeting, up from 88.7 percent a week ago.
The Australian market is trading significantly higher on Thursday, snapping a four-session losing streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,800 level, with gains in mining, financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 78.90 points or 0.90 percent to 8,817.70, after touching a high of 8,818.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 75.40 points or 0.84 percent to 9,085.50. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is advancing almost 2 percent. BHP Group is edging down 0.5 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is declining almost 2 percent and Santos is losing more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent. Beach energy is flat.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Xero is advancing more than 4 percent and Zip are adding more than 3 percent. WiseTech Global is edging down 0.1 percent.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are advancing more than 2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 2 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining more than 1 percent.
Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources, Evolution Mining and Newmont are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Resolute Mining is advancing almost 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.654 on Thursday.
The Japanese market is trading significantly higher on Thursday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving up 500 points to above the 42,450 level, with gains across all sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 42,456.16, up 517.27 points or 1.23 percent, after touching a high of 42,482.50 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is advancing almost 3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent and Honda is edging up 0.5 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is advancing almost 4 percent, Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is adding more than 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 2 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are advancing more than 1 percent each.
Among the major exporters, Sony is gaining almost 3 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 2 percent and Panasonic is edging up 0.1 percent, while Canon is losing more than 1 percent.
Among other major gainers, Fujikura is surging almost 6 percent and Furukawa Electric is gaining almost 4 percent, while IHI, ZOZO and Minebea Mitsumi are adding more than 3 percent each. Dowa Holdings, Tokyo Electric Power, TDK, Nippon Electric Glass, T&D Holdings and Shimizu are all up almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Nidec is tumbling almost 17 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 148 yen-range on Thursday.
Elsewhere in Asia, China and Taiwan are up 1.5 and 1.2 percent, respectively. New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea are higher by between 0.2 and 0.5 percent each. Hong Kong and Indonesia are down 0.7 and 0.2 percent, respectively. Malaysia is relatively flat.
On Wall Street, stocks gave back ground after an early advance on Wednesday but moved back to the upside late in the session to end the day mostly higher. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 regained ground following the pullback seen over the two previous sessions, although the narrower Dow saw further downside.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 218.10 points or 1.0 percent to 21,497.73 and the S&P 500 climbed 32.72 points or 0.5 percent to 6,448.26. The Dow, on the other hand, posted a modest loss, edging down 24.58 points or 0.1 percent to 45,271.23.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.5 percent.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday amid increasing concerns of oversupply due to reported plans by OPEC to boost output at its upcoming meeting on Sunday. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $1.65 or 2.52 percent at $63.94 per barrel.
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