FX.co ★ Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

Asian stock markets are experiencing a predominantly positive trend on Monday, buoyed by the encouraging signals from Wall Street on Friday. Significant advances have been noted in Japan, Indonesia, and South Korea as investors maintain optimism regarding a prospective 25-basis point rate reduction by the US Federal Reserve in December. This optimism followed reports indicating a smaller-than-expected improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment for November. Asian markets largely ended with gains at the close of last week.

Investors are also looking forward to this week’s pivotal U.S. economic indicators, particularly those related to consumer price inflation, which is closely watched by the Fed.

The Australian stock market is displaying strong growth on Monday, building on gains from the preceding trading session, thanks to the generally positive trends seen in U.S. markets last Friday. The flagship S&P/ASX 200 index has surpassed the 8,400 mark, reaching unprecedented heights, with most sectors witnessing gains, especially in mining, energy, and technology. Conversely, financial stocks are underperforming.

Currently, the S&P/ASX 200 Index has risen by 50.80 points, or 0.61%, to 8,444.60, after briefly hitting a record of 8,462.10. The broader All Ordinaries Index is also up by 53.90 points, or 0.62%, to 8,687.00. Australian stocks concluded Friday's session on significantly higher levels.

In the mining sector, BHP Group and Rio Tinto have each gained nearly 1%, Fortescue Metals has added almost 2%, and Mineral Resources is up more than 1%. Oil stocks are showing mixed performances, with Beach Energy edging up by 0.2%, Woodside Energy advancing by over 1%, and Origin Energy increasing by almost 1%, while Santos has dropped by nearly 1%.

Among technology firms, Block, owner of Afterpay, and Xero are both up nearly 1%, Appen has surged by over 4%, and Zip has gained almost 2%. WiseTech Global, however, is down by 0.4%.

The gold mining sector is also largely positive, with Evolution Mining increasing by nearly 1% while Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources each rise by 0.2 to 0.4%. Newmont has decreased by 0.2% and Resolute Mining has declined by nearly 3%.

In the banking domain, Westpac and National Australia Bank have each dipped by 0.4%, ANZ Banking has lost almost 1%, while Commonwealth Bank remains stable.

Elsewhere, SG Fleet Group shares have soared by nearly 24% following a takeover bid at $3.50 per share by Pacific Equity Partners, and Selfwealth shares have jumped 6% after a revised takeover bid from Bell Financial.

On the currency front, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.653 as of Monday.

In Japan, the stock market is showing robust performance on Monday, extending gains from the last session. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is thriving beyond the 38,800 threshold, driven by the encouraging signals from Wall Street, with positive contributions from key indexes, financial sectors, and technology stocks following recent data pointing to a nine-month low in headline inflation.

The Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,868.68, up 584.83 points or 1.53%, after peaking at 39,053.64. Japanese stocks ended significantly higher last Friday.

Major index component SoftBank Group has surged over 4%, and Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo, has added more than 3%. In the automotive sector, Honda has gained nearly 1% and Toyota more than 2%.

Within the technology realm, Screen Holdings has gained upwards of 1%, Tokyo Electron more than 4%, and Advantest by 0.2%.

In banking, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial has increased by almost 2%, Mizuho Financial edged up by 0.3%, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial advanced by almost 1%.

Major exporters are predominantly rising, with Mitsubishi Electric and Sony each up nearly 2%, Canon up by 0.5%, whereas Panasonic has seen a nearly 1% drop.

Significant gains are seen for Keisei Electric Railway, which has surged over 12%, and Hoya, gaining nearly 4%. Conversely, Mercari has seen a drop of over 3%.

In currency exchange, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 153 yen range this Monday.

Elsewhere across Asia, stock markets in South Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia are showing increases of between 1.0 and 1.5%, with markets in New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan experiencing modest gains ranging from 0.1 to 0.6%.

On Wall Street, stocks continued to demonstrate strength last Friday, maintaining the upward trajectory initiated on Thursday. The Dow outperformed, achieving a new record high at the close.The major stock indices concluded the day with gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 426.16 points, or 1.0%, reaching 44,296.51. The S&P 500 experienced an increase of 20.63 points, or 0.4%, closing at 5,969.34, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 31.23 points, or 0.2%, to conclude the day at 19,003.65.

In Europe, all significant markets also trended upward. The FTSE 100 Index in the U.K. leaped by 1.4%, whereas Germany's DAX Index grew by 0.9%, and France's CAC 40 Index increased by 0.6%.

On Friday, crude oil prices rose amid escalating concerns over the Russia-Ukraine conflict. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude futures for January settled up $1.14, or 1.6%, at $71.24 per barrel, marking a weekly gain of 6.5% for WTI crude futures.