Asian stock markets are generally trending higher on Monday, taking cues from Wall Street, where results were mixed on Friday. Investors remain cautiously optimistic, anticipating a potential interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve in September, following April's consumer price inflation data that aligned with expectations, and core consumer prices rising slightly less than projected. Asian markets ended mixed last Friday.
In Australia, the stock market is seeing notable gains on Monday, continuing its upward momentum from the previous session, buoyed by Wall Street’s mixed signals. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is holding firm above the 7,700.00 mark, with strong performances by iron miners, energy, and financial stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index has risen by 57.10 points or 0.74 percent to 7,758.80, reaching an earlier high of 7,779.00. The broader All Ordinaries Index has increased by 53.70 points or 0.67 percent to 8,024.50, following a significant rise in Australian stocks on Friday.
Key miners such as Rio Tinto are up nearly 1 percent, while BHP Group, Fortescue Metals, and Mineral Resources are each gaining over 1 percent. In the oil sector, Beach Energy and Santos are both up nearly 1 percent, Origin Energy is adding almost 2 percent, and Woodside Energy is advancing by more than 1 percent.
In the tech sector, Appen is gaining almost 2 percent, and Zip is adding over 2 percent, while Block, the owner of Afterpay, is down by 1.5 percent and WiseTech Global has fallen over 1 percent. Xero remains flat.
The performance among gold miners is mixed; Gold Road Resources is down nearly 1 percent, and Resolute Mining is declining almost 2 percent, whereas Evolution Mining, Northern Star Resources, and Newmont are seeing slight gains of between 0.1 to 0.4 percent.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank is up almost 1 percent, Westpac is advancing nearly 2 percent, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are each adding more than 1 percent.
In corporate news, Lovisa shares have dropped 7 percent after the discount jewelry retailer named John Cheston, managing director of Smiggle, as its next CEO to succeed Victor Herrero in a year. On the other hand, Galileo Mining’s shares have surged 16 percent following the divestment of nearly a third of its lithium stake in the Norseman project under a joint venture with Mineral Resources. Additionally, APM Human Services' shares have jumped 11 percent amid news of acquisition by Chicago's Madison Dearborn Partners at $1.45 per share.
Economic indicators show that Australia's manufacturing sector continued to contract, albeit at a slightly slower rate. The latest Judo Bank survey reported a manufacturing PMI score of 49.7, marginally up from 49.6 in April, but still below the critical 50 mark separating expansion and contraction.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.666 on Monday.
In Japan, the stock market also exhibited significant gains on Monday, building on the previous session’s upward trend. The benchmark Nikkei 225 was up 361.75 points or 0.94 percent, closing the morning session at 38,849.65, after reaching a high of 39,032.50. Japanese shares had also ended higher on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group edged up 0.2 percent, and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing gained nearly 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda rose over 1 percent, whereas Toyota was slightly down by 0.1 percent.
In technology, Screen Holdings gained nearly 2 percent, Tokyo Electron added over 1 percent, and Advantest edged up 0.1 percent.
In banking, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial climbed over 1 percent, with Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial each advancing over 2 percent.
Major exporters saw gains as well; Canon and Sony each rose almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi Electric added over 1 percent, and Panasonic was up almost 1 percent.
Among other notable gainers, Mercari surged over 12 percent, Nissan Chemical rose over 8 percent, Sumitomo Pharma climbed nearly 8 percent, and Sharp and Yaskawa Electric both gained over 5 percent. Taisei grew nearly 5 percent, while Omron, Taiyo Yuden, M3, Suzuki Motor, and JTEKT each advanced almost 4 percent. Ricoh, TDK, and Kyocera were up over 3 percent, with Tokio Marine rising almost 3 percent.
Conversely, Socionext fell more than 5 percent, and Fujikura lost over 3 percent, while Furukawa Electric and Disco each declined nearly 3 percent.In recent economic developments, Japan's manufacturing sector experienced a notable rebound into expansion territory this May, as reported by Jibun Bank on Monday. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) climbed to 50.4, up from 49.6 in April, surpassing the critical 50 threshold that distinguishes expansion from contraction.
In the foreign exchange market, the U.S. dollar is hovering in the lower 157-yen range as of Monday.
Turning to Asia, stock markets showed impressive gains. Hong Kong surged by 2.7%, with South Korea and Taiwan also seeing significant increases of 2.0% and 1.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, China, Singapore, and Indonesia saw more modest gains of between 0.2% and 0.6%. Notably, both New Zealand and Malaysia markets were closed in observance of King's Birthday and Agong's Birthday, respectively.
On Wall Street, major stock indexes rallied towards the end of trading on Friday after a mixed performance throughout much of the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average made a substantial upward move, recovering from its lowest closing level in nearly a month. It surged by 574.84 points, or 1.5%, reaching 38,686.32. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 advanced by 42.03 points, or 0.8%, settling at 5,277.51. The tech-focused Nasdaq, although it marginally declined by 2.06 points (less than a tenth of a percent) to 16,735.02, showed a marked recovery after a sharp drop of up to 1.7% earlier in the session.
In Europe, major markets also closed on a positive note. The FTSE 100 Index in the U.K. rose by 0.5%, France's CAC 40 Index increased by 0.2%, and Germany's DAX Index closed just above the unchanged line.
In commodity markets, crude oil prices continued their downward trend on Friday, marking three consecutive days of losses due to concerns over demand outlook. However, optimism surrounding the extension of OPEC production cuts helped mitigate further declines. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for July decreased by $0.92, settling at $76.99 a barrel.
