Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

Asian markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, amid optimism about a potential trade deal between the U.S. and China as US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet. Traders also react to another quarter point interest rate cut by the US Fed. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.

However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting comments triggered doubts about the likelihood of a rate cut in December. He said a December rate cut is ‘far from’ a foregone conclusion. He noted Fed officials had “strongly differing views about how to proceed” at the final meeting of the year.

Recently confirmed Fed Governor Stephen Miran once again preferred a half point rate cut, while Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid preferred to leave rates unchanged.

Highlighting the high level of uncertainty due to government shutdown delaying key data, Powell also said there’s a “growing chorus” that feels the Fed should “wait a cycle” to continue cutting rates.

Following Powell’s comments, CME Group’s FedWatch Tool indicates the chances the Fed leaves rates unchanged in December have jumped to 34.1 percent from just 9.1 percent recently.

The Australian market is trading modestly lower on Thursday, adding to the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 8,900 level, with gains in iron ore miners and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 13.10 points or 0.15 percent to 8,913.10, after hitting a low of 8,876.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 13.00 points or 0.14 percent to 9,205.80. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent, Fortescue is adding more than 2 percent, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.4 percent and Mineral Resources is jumping almost 12 percent on upbeat results and record iron ore shipments.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is adding almost 1 percent, Santos is edging up 0.2 percent and Woodside Energy is gaining almost 2 percent, while Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 4 percent, Appen is declining more than 6 percent, Xero is down almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is slipping more than 2 percent and Zip is sliding almost 4 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are gaining more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.4 percent and Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Genesis Minerals are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Resolute Mining is declining almost 4 percent. Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.2 percent and Newmont is adding almost 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.659 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is modestly higher in choppy trading on Thursday, adding to the sharp gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving up to near the 51,400 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in index heavyweights and automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 51,396.85, up 89.20 points or 0.17 percent, after touching a fresh record high of 51,547.93 and low of 51,027.22 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.4 percent and Honda is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is advancing almost 4 percent, Screen Holdings is adding almost 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 2 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are adding more than 1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining more than 1 percent and Panasonic is edging up 0.1 percent, while Sony is losing almost 2 percent. Canon is flat.

Among other major losers, Komatsu and Central Japan Railway are declining more than 6 percent each, while Disco is losing more than 5 percent and Konami Group is down almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Lasertec is skyrocketing more than 21 percent, NEC is soaring almost 17 percent, Sumitomo Electric Industries is jumping more than 5 percent, SHIFT is surging almost 5 percent, Fijitsu is gaining more than 4 percent and Nidec is adding almost 4 percent, while Fujikura and Fuji Electric are advancing more than 3 percent each. Resona Holdings, GS Yuasa and Renesas Electronics are up almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in thelower 152 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is up 1.2 percent, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each. Taiwan is bucking the trend and is down 0.2 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks saw substantial volatility in late-day trading on Wednesday after turning in a strong performance throughout much of the trading session. The major averages showed wild swings back and forth across the unchanged line before closing mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 130.98 points or 0.6 percent to a new record closing high of 23,958.47, the S&P 500 edged down 0.30 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,890.59 and the Dow fell 74.37 points or 0.2 percent to 47,632.00.

The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices bounced higher on Wednesday after a report from the Energy Information Administration showed a steep drop by U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.31 or 0.5 percent at $60.46 per barrel.

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