CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by strong gains in Japan and South Korea amid a rebound in technology and semiconductor stocks after the recent sell-off on concerns over rising costs of financing AI investments. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.
Despite the hotter-than-expected US inflation data released over the past two days, CME Group's FedWatch Tool suggests the US Federal Reserve is still likely to leave rates unchanged later this month.
The continued escalation in the Middle East conflict is spiking crude oil prices and raising supply concerns after two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz were struck by projectiles.
Yemen's Houthis have also vowed to press on with attacks on airports and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia after hitting the headquarters of the Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco a day earlier.
The Australian stock market is trading significantly higher on Friday, reversing the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up near the 8,800 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining a technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 73.90 points or 0.85 percent to 8,793.60, after touching a high of 8,824.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 87.40 points or 0.99 percent to 8,927.80. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday.
Among major miners, and BHP Group is advancing almost 3 percent, Fortescue is gaining almost 2 percent and Rio Tinto is adding more than 2 percent. Mineral Resources is flat.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Santos and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.2 percent each. Beach energy is flat.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Square-owner Block is soaring almost 7 percent, Zip is edging up 0.5 percent, Appen is advancing almost 3 percent, Xero is gaining more than 4 percent and WiseTech Global is jumping more than 6 percent.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources and Resolute Mining are adding more than 2 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is up more than 3 percent, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent and Newmont is gaining almost 4 percent.
In other news, shares in Maas Group are surging more than 9 percent after reiterating its balance sheet strength and business prospects.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.693 on Friday.
The Japanese market is trading sharply higher on Friday, snapping a six session losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving a tad above the 65,550 level, with gains across most sectors led by technology and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 65,550.68, up 1,124.73 points or 1.75 percent, after touching a high of 65,688.71 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 2 percent and Honda is adding more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing more than 2 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are adding almost 2 percent each.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 2 percent, Panasonic is edging up 0.2 percent, Sony is advancing almost 3 percent and Canon is adding more than 1 percent.
Among other major gainers, BayCurrent is soaring more than 17 percent, SHIFT is jumping more than 16 percent and Nomura Research Institute is surging almost 7 percent, while Konami Group, Lasertec and Trend Micro are advancing more than 5 percent each. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mercari, Fujitsu, BANDAI NAMCO and NEXON are gaining almost 5 percent each, while Capcom, Shiseido, Rakuten Group and NEC are adding more than 4 percent each.
Conversely, Takashimaya is losing more than 3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is surging 2.8 percent, while China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are higher by between 0.6 and 1.1 percent each. Indonesia is tumbling 11 percent, while New Zealand and Malaysia are down 0.5 and 0.6 percent, respectively.
On Wall Street, stocks extended Wednesday's slump in early trading on Thursday but showed a considerable turnaround over the course of the session. The major averages all moved to the upside as the day progressed, with the Dow jumping to its best closing level in a month.
The Dow shot up 556.21 points or 1.1 percent to 52,177.69 and the S&P 500 also rose 25.12 points or 0.3 percent to 7,744.06, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq spent most of the day in negative territory but managed to end the day up 20.16 points or 0.1 percent at 26,713.03.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil prices were higher for a sixth straight day on Thursday on elevated supply concerns after two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz were struck by projectiles. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery surged $2.95 or 3.1 percent to $98.04 a barrel.
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