Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, supported by gains in energy stocks on spiking crude oil prices. Traders remain cautious amid persisting worries about inflation and tighter policy stance of global central banks. They also indulged in picking up some stocks at reduced levels following recent sell-off. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

The Australian stock market is notably higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 6,900 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as energy stocks saw significant strength amid spiking crude oil prices. Traders are also picking up stocks at a bargain after the markets posted its worst one-day drop.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 43.10 points or 0.63 percent to 6,871.70, after touching a high of 6,878.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 41.70 points or 0.59 percent to 7,113.50. Australian stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is edging down 0.3 percent and OZ Minerals is down almost 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is edging up 0.1 percent, Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 1 percent and BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is gaining almost 3 percent, Beach energy is advancing almost 4 percent and Woodside Energy is adding more that 4 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is down more than 1 percent and Appen is losing more than 1 percent, while Xero is edging up 0.4 percent, Zip is advancing almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is advancing almost 2 percent.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is losing more than 1 percent and Evolution Mining is edging down 0.5 percent, while Gold Road Resources is advancing more than 3 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.3 percent. Newcrest Mining is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.676 on Thursday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly higher in choppy trading on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 27,900 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are cautious after the steep sell-off in the previous session, even as the yen continues its depreciation.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at the day’s high of 27,946.20, up 127.58 points or 0.46 percent, after hitting a low of 27,801.44 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is flat.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging up 0.2 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent, while Advantest is flat.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging down 0.3 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Canon and Sony are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.3 percent and Panasonic is flat.

Among the other major gainers, Nintendo is adding more than 3 percent and East Japan Railway is gaining almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Nippon Steel is losing almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 143 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each. New Zealand and China are down 0.1 and 0.7 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, following the substantial pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages spent the day swinging back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages moved to the upside going into the close, managing to end the day in positive territory. While the Nasdaq climbed 86.10 points or 0.7 percent to 11,719.68, the S&P 500 rose 13.32 points or 0.3 percent to 3,946.01 and the Dow inched up 30.12 points or 0.1 percent to 31,135.09.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index slumped by 1.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index dove by 1.5 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday amid speculation the Biden administration might consider refilling the country’s oil reserve, and on data showing a drop in gasoline stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $1.17 or about 1.3 percent at $88.48 a barrel.

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