Asian stock markets are predominantly experiencing gains on Thursday, taking inspiration from the positive momentum seen on Wall Street the previous night. This upswing is fuelled by traders' continued optimism about potential further interest rate reductions by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks. The minutes from the Fed's September meeting revealed a consensus to cut interest rates, though there was uncertainty regarding the extent of such cuts. On Wednesday, Asian markets showed mixed results.
Investors are now eagerly anticipating the release of U.S. consumer price and producer price inflation data, seeking further insights into how significantly the Fed might adjust rates in the forthcoming months.
On Tuesday, New York Fed President John Williams suggested that it could soon be suitable for the central bank to gradually lower rates. Complementing this view, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler expressed support for more easing should inflation trends continue downward.
In Australia, the stock market is showing notable strength on Thursday, building on minor gains from the previous session, underpinned by Wall Street's positive performance. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 has surpassed the 8,200-mark, powered by robust performances in mining, energy, and technology sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index is up by 44.10 points or 0.54 percent, reaching 8,231.50, after hitting a peak of 8,242.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index has risen 48.10 points or 0.57 percent to 8,504.90. Australian equities ended slightly higher on Wednesday.
In the mining sector, Fortescue Metals is experiencing an increase of nearly 2 percent, with Mineral Resources up almost 3 percent. Meanwhile, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are both gaining close to 1 percent each.
Oil stocks also show upward trends with Beach Energy rising nearly 2 percent, Woodside Energy increasing by almost 1 percent, and Santos up 0.5 percent, although Origin Energy is down slightly by 0.4 percent.
In technology, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are showing modest gains of 0.4 to 0.5 percent, with Appen seeing a surge of over 7 percent and Zip advancing 3.5 percent. However, WiseTech Global is slightly down by 0.1 percent.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are both seeing increases of 0.5 percent, ANZ Banking is up more than 1 percent, while National Australia Bank remains steady.
In the gold mining sector, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are each edging up between 0.1 to 0.3 percent, with Resolute Mining gaining 2.5 percent and Northern Star Resources up by nearly 1 percent, while Newmont is declining by almost 1 percent.
Elsewhere, Arcadium Lithium's shares have soared 31 percent following a $9.9 billion acquisition deal by Rio Tinto.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.673.
Building on prior gains, the Japanese market is marginally higher on Thursday, echoing Wall Street's optimistic signals. The Nikkei 225 is approaching the 39,400 mark, with gains in heavyweight and financial stocks being partially offset by weaknesses in technology shares.
During the morning session, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index hit 39,395.05, climbing 117.09 points or 0.30 percent, after reaching a high of 39,616.59. Japanese stocks posted significant gains on Wednesday.
Market leader SoftBank Group is up by over 3 percent, and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is increasing by nearly 1 percent. Among automakers, both Toyota and Honda are contributing gains close to 1 percent each.
Technology stocks are showing a mixed performance with Tokyo Electron down by almost 1 percent, while Advantest and Screen Holdings are declining over 1 percent each.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are both gaining over 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial sees an increase approaching 2 percent.
For major exporters, Canon is close to a 1 percent gain, Sony is marginally up by 0.1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining nearly 2 percent, whereas Panasonic shows a decline of 0.4 percent.
Among other significant movers, Nikon is also performing well, with an increase surpassing 3 percent.
Conversely, Aeon is experiencing a steep drop of more than 9 percent, Kawasaki Heavy Industries down nearly 5 percent, and Fujikura losing over 3 percent.
Turning to economic news, Japan's producer prices remained unchanged in September, as reported by the Bank of Japan on Thursday. This was contrary to expectations for a 0.3 percent decline, following a 0.2 percent drop in August. Year over year, producer prices rose 2.8 percent, overtaking forecasts of a 2.3 percent increase, up from 2.6 percent in the prior month.
Export prices fell 0.4 percent on a monthly basis and rose 0.5 percent yearly, while import prices dropped 1.3 percent monthly and 0.4 percent yearly. The foreign exchange rate fell 2.0 percent monthly.
The Bank of Japan announced an increase in the total value of bank lending in Japan by 2.7 percent year-on-year in September, reaching 624.24 trillion yen. This figure fell short of the anticipated 2.9 percent growth and was a decrease from the 3.0 percent seen in August. In the third quarter of 2024, total lending rose by 3.0 percent annually, with lending excluding trusts up by 3.3 percent, while lending through trusts saw a rise of 0.6 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen range on Thursday.
Across Asia, Hong Kong's market increased by 2.5 percent. Meanwhile, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia observed rises ranging between 0.3 and 0.4 percent. Conversely, China and Indonesia experienced declines of 0.3 and 0.1 percent, respectively. Taiwan's market remained closed for National Day celebrations. Over on Wall Street, stocks had a flat start on Wednesday but gained momentum throughout the day. This uptick was spurred as investors analyzed the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting and looked forward to consumer and producer price inflation data, seeking clarity on potential interest rate direction.
The main indices closed on a positive note, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 reaching new record highs. The Dow increased by 431.63 points or 1.03 percent to end at 42,512.00, the S&P 500 rose by 40.91 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 5,792.04, and the Nasdaq climbed by 108.70 points or 0.6 percent, closing at 18,291.62.
In Europe, major stock markets also closed higher. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose by 0.65 percent, Germany's DAX increased by 0.99 percent, and France's CAC 40 edged up by 0.52 percent.
Crude oil prices declined on Wednesday following a significant rise in crude inventories, which overshadowed potential supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Milton and tensions in the Middle East. November futures for West Texas Intermediate Crude fell by $0.33 or 0.45 percent, settling at $73.24 per barrel.