Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Friday, following the positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid optimism about possible trade deals, with US President Donald Trump saying he has "potential" trade deals with India, South Korea and Japan as well as expressed optimism about a resolution with China. Traders are also booking some profits following the recent upside in the markets. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

The Australian stock market is notably higher on Friday after opening in the red, adding to the gains in the previous six sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving a tad above the 8,200 level, with gains in iron ore miners, financial and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in gold miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 54.60 points or 0.67 percent to 8,200.20, after hitting a low of 8,129.80 and a high of 8,207.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 55.00 points or 0.66 percent to 8,420.70. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Fortescue Metals is adding almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is up 1.5 percent. BHP Group is flat. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is gaining 1.5 percent and Santos is adding almost 3 percent each, while Beach energy and Woodside Energy is up 2.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is plummeting almost 25 percent after slashing profit outlook and Zip is sliding more than 8 percent, while Appen is gaining almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.3 percent. Xero is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia are adding almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking Bank is gaining almost 2 percent. Gold miners are mixed. Evolution Mining is gaining 1.5 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is losing almost 2 percent and Newmont is down almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

In other news, shares in Corporate Travel Management slumped more than 10 percent after the travel company said it expects to report lower revenue and earnings growth due to the impact of tariffs on client demand.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.641 on Friday.

Extending the gains in the previous six sessions, the Japanese market is notably higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving up above the 36,700 level, with gains in index heavyweights, automakers and exporters partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 36,705.53, up 253.23 points or 0.69 percent, after hitting a high of 36,976.51 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 2 percent and Honda is advancing more than 3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are all declining more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is gaining more than 1 percent, while Panasonic and Canon are adding more than 2 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Yamato Holdings is surging more than 5 percent and Daikin Industries is gaining more than 4 percent, while Otsuka Holdings, Socionext and Shin-Etsu Chemical are adding almost 4 percent each. Subaru, OKUMA, Sumitomo Pharma, ZOZO, Hino Motors, Oriental Land, Olympus and Daiichi Sankyo are all advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Seiko Epson is losing more than 5 percent and Resona Holdings is declining almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.5 percent in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was higher than forecasts for 2.4 percent, which would have been unchanged from the February reading. The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.26, surpassing expectations for 1.25 and up from 1.24 in the previous month. The participation rate was 63.3 percent, in line with expectations and up from 63.2 percent.

Additionally, the Bank of Japan said the monetary base in Japan was down 4.8 percent on year in April, coming in at 656.977 trillion yen. That missed expectations for a decline of 2.0 percent on year following the upwardly revised 3.1 percent contraction in March (originally -3.2 percent).

Banknotes in circulation were down 2.0 percent on year, while coins in circulation slipped 1.4 percent. Current account balances stumbled an annual 5.4 percent, including a 2.6 percent drop in reserve balances. The adjusted monetary base slumped 14.2 percent on year at 639.753 trillion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 145 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Taiwan are surging between 1.1 and 1.8 percent each, while Singapore, South Korea and Indonesia are up between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each. Malaysia is bucking the trend and is down 0.3 percent. China remains closed for Labor Day.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back some ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday but remained mostly higher. The tech-heavy Nasdaq hung on to a standout gain, ending the session at its best closing level in over a month.

The major averages moved to the downside going into the end of the day but still closed in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 264.40 points or 1.5 percent to 17,710.74, the S&P 500 climbed 35.08 points or 0.6 percent to 5,604.14 and the Dow rose 83.60 points or 0.2 percent to 40,752.96.

Meanwhile, with most major European markets closed for May Day, U.K. stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index eventually ended the day just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices saw considerable volatility Thursday but moved sharply higher after President Donald Trump threatened to impose sanctions on any country that purchases Iranian oil. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery jumped $1.03 or 1.8 percent to $59.24 a barrel.