CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by markets in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan amid the rebound in technology or semiconductor stocks as major global firms reinforced aggressive AI investment plans renewed optimism over AI spending after major US tech firms reinforced their aggressive investment plans. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.
The ongoing talks between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz management also induced positivity on the resumption of the free flow of gulf crude oil.
U.S. Central Command announced completing a heavy wave of strikes against Iran in response to attempts by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to destroy U.S. bases in Jordan.
Despite wanting to hit Iran harder, yesterday U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he had allowed talks to continue.
Middle East tensions continue to dictate markets as the scenario alternates between temporary ceasefires and the sudden exchange of attacks.
The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Friday, reversing some of the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 9,150 level, with gains across most sectors led by gold miners and technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 19.60 points or 0.22 percent to 9,142.30, after touching a high of 9,059.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.20 points or 0.16 percent to 8,981.90. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Thursday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto is up more than 1 percent, Mineral Resources is edging up 0.3 percent and BHP Group is gaining almost 2 percent, while Fortescue is declining more than 3 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy are advancing more than 1 percent each, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.2 percent each. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent, Zip is surging almost 8 percent and Appen is advancing almost 4 percent, while Xero is down more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is slipping almost 6 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are flat, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.3 percent.
Gold miners are mostly higher. Genesis Minerals and Newmont are surging almost 4 percent each, Evolution Mining is advancing more than 3 percent, Resolute Mining is spiking almost 5 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.1 percent.
In economic news, total private sector credit in Australia was up 0.8 percent on month and 8.5 percent on year in June, the Reserve Bank of Australia said on Friday. Housing credit was up 0.6 percent on month and 7.5 percent on year, while personal credit rose 0.8 percent on month and 4.7 percent on year and business credit jumped 1.1 percent on month and 10.8 percent on year. Broad money added 0.9 percent on month and 8.0 percent on year.
Meanwhile, producer price final demand was up 1.3 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2026, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. That beat expectations for a gain of 0.5 percent and was up from 0.4 percent in the previous three months. On a yearly basis, producer prices climbed 3.6 percent - up from 3.0 percent in the three months prior.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.702 on Friday.
The Japanese market is trading sharply higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is surging 4.4 percent to well above the 64,550 level, with gains across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 64,572.25, up 2,704.82 points or 4.37 percent, after touching a high of 65,364.73 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is spiking more than 15 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is down almost 1 percent and Honda is losing almost 2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is soaring almost 18 percent, Screen Holdings is surging almost 9 percent and Tokyo Electron is spiking more than 10 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 3 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is surging more than 5 percent.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is flat, Mitsubishi Electric is surging more than 8 percent, while Canon is down more than 2 percent and Sony is losing almost 2 percent.
Among other major gainers, Sumco and Furukawa Electric are skyrocketing almost 16 percent each, while Mitsui Kinzoku and Disco are spiking more than 14 percent each. Fujikura, Resonac Holdings, Sumitomo Electric Industries and Lasertec are jumping almost 13 percent each, while Ebara and Fuji Electric are soaring almost 12 percent each. Renesas Electronics and Sumitomo Metal Mining are surging more than 9 percent each.
Conversely, Nomura Research Institute is plummeting almost 13 percent, Konica Minolta is plunging almost 12 percent, M3 is tumbling almost 10 percent and Fujitsu is sliding almost 7 percent, while Konami Group, Nintendo and Hitachi Construction Machinery are slipping almost 6 percent each. Shiseido and Daiichi Sankyo are declining more than 5 percent each, while Trend Micro is declining almost 5 percent. Seven & I Holdings, CyberAgent, Ricoh and NEC are losing more than 4 percent. Asahi Group is down almost 4 percent.
In economic news, the Bank of Japan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Friday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoJ is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 1.00 percent.
The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.5 percent in June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was in line with expectations and unchanged from the May reading. The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.18 - exceeding expectations for 1.17, which would have been unchanged.
The ministry also said that overall inflation in the Tokyo region - considered a leading indicator for the nationwide trend - was up 2.0 percent on year in July, up from 1.7 percent in June. Core CPI rose an annual 1.9 percent, exceeding expectations for 1.8 percent and up from 1.6 percent a month earlier.
Meanwhile, the value of retail sales in Japan was up 0.5 percent on year in June, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry or METI said on Friday - coming in at 13.019 trillion yen. That missed expectations for an increase of 3.1 percent and was down from the downwardly revised 5.0 percent gain in May (originally 5.3 percent). Sales from large retailers slumped 4.1 percent on month and 1.0 percent on year after rising 1.7 percent on month and 5.0 percent on year in May. Wholesale sales were up 9.6 percent at 42.806 trillion yen.
METI also said Industrial production in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent on month in June, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday - beating forecasts for a gain of 1.0 percent and up from 0.1 percent in May. On a yearly basis, production was up 4.2 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 160 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are soaring 13.3 and 6.9 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China and Indonesia are higher by 0.1 to 0.8 percent. Singapore and Hong Kong are down 1.1 and 0.5 percent, respectively. Malaysia is relatively flat.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday, largely offsetting the sell-off seen late in the previous session. The major averages showed a strong move to the upside early in the session and remained firmly positive throughout the day.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq helped lead the way higher, spiking 679.24 points or 2.8 percent to 25,122.18. The S&P 500 also shot up 121.48 points or 1.7 percent to 7,437.63 and the Dow jumped 613.92 points or 1.2 percent to 52,508.06.
The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.6 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.1 percent.
Crude oil prices slipped on Thursday as ongoing talks between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz management induced positivity on the resumption of the free flow of gulf oil. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.65 or 0.77 percent at $83.81 per barrel.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
