Asian stock markets are predominantly higher on Friday, buoyed by the anticipation of more interest rate reductions from the Federal Reserve next year, despite receiving mixed signals from Wall Street the previous night. Investors are cautious as they await the start of a full trading week after the holiday-shortened schedule. Thursday saw a varied performance across Asian markets.
Australia: The Australian stock market continues its upward trajectory on Friday, marking gains for the third consecutive session and reacting to mixed cues from Wall Street. The S&P/ASX 200 index remains firmly above the 8,200 mark, with notable advancements in the mining and energy sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index has risen by 36.70 points or 0.45 percent to 8,257.60, after hitting an intraday high of 8,281.40. Similarly, the All Ordinaries Index has increased by 43.10 points or 0.51 percent to 8,514.60. The market had shown modest gains on Tuesday before the mid-week holiday.
Key miners are seeing positive movement, with BHP Group edging up 0.3 percent and Mineral Resources increasing by nearly 2 percent. Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are both up close to 1 percent.
In the oil sector, shares are mostly up. Woodside Energy is climbing by almost 1 percent, while Beach Energy and Santos are up by 0.5 percent each. Conversely, Origin Energy is experiencing a slight downturn, dipping by 0.4 percent.
Tech stocks show mixed performance: Zip is surging nearly 4 percent, Block (owner of Afterpay) is up 1.5 percent, Xero edges 0.1 percent higher, and Appen is witnessing a significant rise of almost 14 percent. WiseTech Global is down by almost 1 percent.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are each creeping up 0.3 to 0.4 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are seeing gains approaching 1 percent. Gold miners are broadly positive, with Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources each edging up 0.5 percent, Resolute Mining up almost 2 percent, and Gold Road Resources adding over 1 percent. Newmont, however, is down nearly 1 percent.
On the currency front, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.622.
Japan: Buoyed by mixed Wall Street cues and positive domestic economic indicators, Japan's stock market is substantially higher on Friday morning, with the Nikkei 225 index rising significantly above the 40,000 threshold.
The Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning trade at 40,074.56, an increase of 506.50 points or 1.28 percent, after earlier reaching 40,086.28. Thursday's session also ended with significant gains.
Market leaders like SoftBank Group are gaining over 1 percent, with Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo, rising nearly 1 percent. Automakers Honda and Toyota are up 1.5 percent and slightly over 1 percent, respectively.
In technology, Advantest is rising by 1.5 percent, with Tokyo Electron up almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings advancing nearly 2 percent.
The banking sector shows positive signs with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial up over 1 percent, Mizuho Financial almost 1 percent higher, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial edging up 0.5 percent.
Leading exporters, including Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic, are posting gains between 0.2 to 0.4 percent, while Sony and Canon are both up more than 1 percent each.
Noteworthy gainers include DeNA, soaring nearly 11 percent, alongside Socionext and OKUMA, each up by more than 5 percent. Nidec, Renesas Electronics, and Rakuten Group are gaining almost 4 percent each, while Shiseido and Tokyo Tatemono rise over 3 percent. M3 is almost 3 percent up.
Currently, the market shows no significant losers.
Economic Insights: Japan's retail sales experienced a year-on-year growth of 2.8 percent in November 2024, improving from the revised 1.3 percent in October and surpassing the 1.7 percent market projection. Monthly, retail sales rose by 1.8 percent in November—marking the first increase in three months and achieving the highest rate since September 2021, recovering from October's revised 0.2 percent dip.
The unemployment rate in Japan remained steady at 2.5 percent in November, aligning with both October's figures and market expectations. The jobs-to-applications ratio was also consistent at 1.25 in November, in line with the previous month's data.
Meanwhile, the core consumer price index for Tokyo’s Ku-area increased by 2.4 percent year-on-year in December 2024, climbing from November's 2.2 percent and reaching a peak not seen since August. However, it narrowly missed the predicted 2.5 percent.Industrial production in Japan has seen a decline of 2.3% month-over-month for November 2024. This drop surpassed market expectations, which anticipated a more significant fall of 3.4%. This follows a previous increase of 2.8% in the prior month. On an annual basis, industrial output decreased by 2.8%, reversing a 1.4% rise that occurred in October.
In the foreign exchange market, the U.S. dollar is trading within the mid-157 yen range as of Friday.
Elsewhere across Asia, stock markets experienced varied performances. Indices in New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan posted gains, ranging from 0.2% to 0.9%. Conversely, South Korea experienced a drop of 1.5%, while China's and Hong Kong's markets decreased by 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively.
Meanwhile, on Wall Street, stocks managed a recovery during Thursday's trading session after an initial downturn. The major indexes rebounded significantly from early losses and largely hovered near their starting points for much of the day.
Ultimately, the major indexes concluded the day with mixed outcomes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 28.77 points, or 0.1%, landing at 43,325.80. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite slipped by 10.77 points, or 0.1%, settling at 20,020.37, and the S&P 500 dipped slightly by 2.45 points, under a tenth of a percent, to 6,037.59.
In contrast, major European markets remained closed due to Boxing Day observances.
Crude oil prices declined on Thursday after initially gaining, as uncertainties loom regarding global oil demand and potential oversupply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February delivery settled down by $0.48, nearly 0.7%, reaching $69.62 per barrel.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company -
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