Asian stock markets are predominantly trading lower this Thursday, drawing from the largely negative trends witnessed on Wall Street the previous day. Investors remain cautious, anticipating a range of economic data releases from the region later this week. Additionally, some traders are capturing profits following the market's recent uptrend. Trading volumes are subdued due to holidays in Japan and New Zealand. On Tuesday, Asian markets mostly ended in negative territory.
In contrast, the Australian market is experiencing a modest uptick on Thursday. Initially opening on a positive note and briefly dipping into negative territory, it is recovering some of the losses from the prior two sessions. This recovery comes despite the absence of global cues due to holiday market closures. The S&P/ASX 200 index is nearing the 8,200 mark, bolstered by gains in mining, technology, and energy sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index has climbed 26.40 points or 0.32 percent to reach 8,185.50, having touched a high of 8,199.70 earlier. Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index has increased by 28.10 points or 0.33 percent to 8,448.60. On Tuesday, Australian stocks had declined significantly prior to the Wednesday holiday.
Leading the mining sector, Fortescue Metals is up over 2 percent, and Mineral Resources has added more than 1 percent. BHP Group and Rio Tinto are trading slightly higher, each gaining between 0.3 to 0.5 percent.
In the oil sector, most stocks are on the rise. Beach Energy, Santos, and Woodside Energy are each gaining nearly 1 percent, although Origin Energy is down 0.1 percent.
In technology, Block, the owner of Afterpay, has fallen over 2 percent, and Xero is down almost 1 percent. Conversely, Zip is slightly up by 0.5 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing over 2 percent, and Appen is surging by more than 8 percent.
Among the major banks, National Australia Bank is marginally up by 0.1 percent, while ANZ Banking has dipped by 0.3 percent. Commonwealth Bank and Westpac remain unchanged. In the gold mining sector, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are up by 0.3 to 0.5 percent, Gold Road Resources has gained nearly 1 percent, Resolute Mining is up almost 2 percent, and Newmont is advancing by more than 1 percent.
On the economic front, Australia's CoreLogic Home Value Index decreased by 0.1% in December 2024, marking the first monthly decline in nearly two years, following a robust growth period from February 2023 to October 2024. Annually, Australian home values increased by 4.9% in 2024.
Additionally, the Judo Bank Australia Manufacturing PMI dropped to 47.8 in December 2024, down from 49.4 in November. This marks the eleventh consecutive month of declining manufacturing conditions, with a more significant decrease than the initial estimate of 48.2.
In currency markets, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.621 on Thursday.
The Japanese stock market remains closed for New Year holidays, with Japanese shares having ended significantly lower on Monday before the holiday shutdown on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 157 yen range on Thursday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong has declined by 2.1 percent, and markets in China, South Korea, and Taiwan are down by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent. Indonesia is up by 0.4 percent, with Singapore showing little movement. New Zealand is also closed for New Year holidays.
In the United States, Wall Street markets remained closed for the New Year holiday on Wednesday, after ending lower on Friday.
Similarly, major European markets were closed for the New Year holiday on Wednesday, having closed notably higher on Friday prior.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company -
www.instaforex.com
