CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders react positively to the Democrats' decisive victory in the midterm elections after they won control of both the House and Senate, with crude oil prices plummeting on hopes of a potential end to the Middle East conflict. Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday.
However, rising uncertainty over tech regulation, trade policy and the U.S. budget deficit is weighing on market sentiment.
Interest rate-hike worries associated with oil-linked inflation declined after crude oil prices plunged and the U.S. dollar slid following the U.S. midterm election results.
US President Donald Trump's apparent willingness to accept the poll results and work with Democrats to address political issues may have helped offset concerns about increased regulatory scrutiny under a Democrat-controlled Congress.
Several analysts also noted that a divided government, where the White House and Congress are controlled by separate parties, is often beneficial to the financial markets.
The Australian market is trading sharply higher on Thursday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is surging 2 percent to above the 9,000 mark, with strong gains in mining and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy and financial stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 171.80 points or 1.94 percent to 9,006.30, after touching a high of 9,012.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 191.30 points or 2.14 percent to 9,146.20. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Wednesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is advancing more than 4 percent and Mineral Resources is jumping more than 7 percent, while Fortescue and Rio Tinto are surging almost 5 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 3 percent, Origin Energy is down more than 1 percent and Santos is slipping more than 5 percent. Woodside Energy is sliding more than 6 percent after a capital markets day update revealed that it was targeting more than 500 job cuts.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 6 percent, Xero is jumping more than 9 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing almost 4 percent, Appen is rising more than 7 percent and Zip is soaring more than 14 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is declining almost 2 percent, Commonwealth Bank is down almost 1 percent, Westpac is edging down 0.4 percent and National Australia Bank is tumbling almost 8 percent on downbeat full-year results.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is jumping more than 8 percent, Northern Star Resources is surging more than 6 percent, Resolute Mining is advancing almost 8 percent, Genesis Minerals is gaining more than 11 percent and Newmont is soaring almost 10 percent.
In other news, shares in NextDC are skyrocketing 45 percent after Goodman Group and US-listed Digital Realty Trust launched an aftermarket 'share raid' to acquire up to a 9.9% stake in the company at A$9.50 per share.
Shares in Rea Group are soaring more than 9 percent following a strong first-quarter trading update.
Shares in Eagers Automotive are plunging more than 16 percent following disappointing trading update for the third quarter that was impacted by industry-wide headwinds.
In economic news, Australia posted a merchandise trade surplus of A$2.826 billion in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. That beat expectations for a surplus of A$0.940 billion and was up from the A$0.184 billion surplus in August.
Exports rose 2.3 percent on month to A$48.434 billion, slowing from 3.7 percent in the previous month. Exports sank 3.3 percent on month to A$45.609 billion after jumping 6.2 percent a month earlier.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.702 on Thursday.
The Japanese market is notably lower in choppy trading on Thursday, after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 61,950 level, with a sell-off in technology stocks partially offset by gains in automakers, retailers and financial stocks.
Technology and AI-related stocks tumbled on potential implications for data-center development under Democratic control of the US Congress.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 61,913.51, down 275.12 points or 0.44 percent, after touching a high of 62,653.98 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is soaring more than 11 percent. Among automakers, Toyota and Honda are surging almost 6 percent each.
In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling more than 10 percent, Screen Holdings is sliding more than 7 percent and Tokyo Electron is plunging more than 8 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing almost 4 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 2 percent and Panasonic is declining more than 5 percent, while Sony is surging almost 8 percent and Canon is gaining almost 4 percent.
Among other major losers, Ibiden is plummeting almost 15 percent and Kokusai Electric is plunging almost 13 percent, while Murata Manufacturing, Sumco, Yokogawa Electric, Furukawa Electric and OKUMA are tumbling almost 11 percent each. Lasertec and Taiyo Yuden are declining more than 9 percent each, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Kioxia Holdings are losing almost 9 percent each. Resona Holdings is slipping more than 8 percent and Fujikura is down more than 7 percent.
Conversely, Konami Group is skyrocketing almost 12 percent, Sumitomo Pharma is soaring more than 8 percent and Mitsubishi Motors is jumping more than 9 percent, while Mitsubishi Estate and Capcom are surging more than 9 percent each. Yokohama Rubber, Terumo and Astellas Pharma are advancing almost 9 percent each, while BANDAI NAMCO is gaining more than 8 percent. Sapporo Holdings and Kyowa Kirin are adding almost 8 percent each. NEXON and Shiseido are up more than 7 percent each.
In economic news, the services sector in Japan continued to expand in October, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Thursday with a services PMI score of 51.7. That's up from 51.3 in September and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite index eased to 52.1 in October from 52.3 in September.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Thursday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Indonesia are surging between 2.1 and 2.9 percent each, Malaysia is up 1.2 percent, while Singapore and China are up 0.6 and 0.1 percent, respectively. South Korea and Taiwan are tumbling 3.5 and 1.6 percent, respectively.
On Wall Street, major stock indexes all showed significant moves to the upside following the mixed performances seen in the two previous sessions. The Dow showed a particularly strong upward move, reaching a two-month closing high.
The major averages gave back some ground going into the end of the day but remained sharply higher. The Dow surged 1,569.40 points or 3 percent to 53,356.12, the S&P 500 jumped 119.70 points or 1.6 percent to 7,688.62 and the Nasdaq shot up 364.50 points or 1.4 percent to 25,736.51.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index shot up b 2.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 1.8 percent.
Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday, losing the geopolitical risk premium as a comfortable victory for the Democrat party in the U.S. midterm elections eased concerns of renewed U.S.-Iran escalation. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $8.39 or 8.73 percent at $87.70 per barrel.
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