CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid increased confidence the US Fed will continue lower interest rates in the coming months after data showed US consumer price inflation rose in line with economist estimates in August. However, ongoing tariff uncertainty and the intensifying Russia-Ukraine war are weighing on market sentiment. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.
The Australian stock market is notably higher on Monday, adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 8,800.00 level, with gains in gold miners and financial partially offset by weakness in iron ore miners and a mixed performance in technology and energy stocks.
Traders look ahead to the Reserve Bank of Australia's meeting on Tuesday, where the RBA is widely expected to hold interest rates following a hot inflation report.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 56.50 points or 0.64 percent to 8,844.20, after touching a high of 8,871.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 52.10 points or 0.57 percent to 9,131.30. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Friday.
Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is slipping almost 2 percent, Fortescue is declining more than 2 percent and BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.3 percent.
Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy and Santos are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.1 percent, while Appen and Zip are adding almost 2 percent each. WiseTech Global is losing almost 2 percent and Xero is edging down 0.2 percent.
Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is advancing almost 3 percent, Newmont is adding more than 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is jumping almost 2 percent. Gold Road Resources is suspended.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining more than 1 percent each.
In other news, shares in Novonix are jumping almost 17 percent after the battery and technology company delivered its first mass production of synthetic graphite to a top US client and flagging more.
Shares in New Zealand's Synlait Milk are soaring more than 15 percent after the New Zealand-based dairy processing company agreed to sell its North Island assets to healthcare company Abbott for NZ$307 million or $270 million.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.655 on Monday.
The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 44,850 level, with weakness in index heavyweights, automakers, exporters and financial stocks partially offset by gains in technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 44,892.52, down 462.47 points or 1.02 percent, after hitting a low of 44,890.20 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also down more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is declining almost 2 percent and Toyota is losing more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 3 percent, Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.5 percent and Screen Holdings is adding more than 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are losing more than 1 percent each.
The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic is declining 1.5 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are losing more than 1 percent each. Sony is edging up 0.3 percent.
Among the other major losers, J. Front Retailing and Aeon are losing almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Sumco is soaring almost 8 percent, M3 is surging more than 6 percent, Sumitomo Pharma is gaining almost 4 percent, Fujikura is gaining more than 3 percent and Sumitomo Heavy Industries is adding almost 3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 1.4 percent each, while Malaysia and Taiwan are down 0.1 and 1.7 percent, respectively.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday after turning in a lackluster performance early in the session. The major averages all moved to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq rejoining the Dow and the S&P 500 in positive territory after spending some time below the unchanged line.
The major averages all finished the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow advanced 299.97 points or 0.7 percent to 46,247.29, the S&P 500 climbed 38.98 points or 0.6 percent to 6,643.70 and the Nasdaq rose 99.37 points or 0.4 percent to 22,484.07.
The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.8 percent.
Crude oil prices advanced on Friday as Russia restricted fuel exports by introducing a partial ban on diesel exports until the end of 2025. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.59 or 0.91 percent at $65.57 per barrel.
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