Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders cheer reports the U.S. Senate is nearing a potential deal to extend government funding after the record 40-day long US government shutdown. Major currencies in the region also strengthened against the US dollar. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.

Top US Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer offered to provide Democratic support for passage of a short-term funding bill to reopen the government in exchange for Republican support for a one-year extension of enhanced Obamacare tax credits.

The Australian stock market is notably higher on Monday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 8,800.00 level, with gains in mining and technology stocks and a mixed performance in most other sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 56.60 points or 0.64 percent to 8,826.00, after touching a high of 8,830.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 69.60 points or 0.77 percent to 9,101.30. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is surging almost 6 percent. Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is edging up 0.2 percent and Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is down almost 1 percent. Beach energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is surging almost 7 percent, Zip is advancing more than 5 percent, Appen is gaining almost 4 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 4 percent, while Xero is flat.

Gold miners are higher. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are adding more than 3 percent each, while Resolute Mining is rising almost 3 percent, Newmont are gaining almost 2 percent and Genesis Minerals is advancing more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent, while Westpac is gaining almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is adding almost 2 percent. National Australia Bank is flat.

In other news, shares in Monadelphous Group are climbing almost 9 percent after the engineering contractor told investors it expects half-year revenue of about $1.5 billion, driven by strong demand across construction, energy, and infrastructure projects.

Shares in DroneShield are also jumping almost 9 percent after it secured $7.6 million in new contracts to supply handheld counter-drone systems to the US government, with delivery and payment expected between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.651 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly higher on Monday, reversing some of the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 moving a tad above the 50,900 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 50,766.89, up 490.52 points or 0.98 percent, after touching a high of 50,913.90 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 5 percent and Toyota is flat.

In the tech space, Advantest is advancing 2.5 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 3 percent, while Screen Holdings is losing more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.2 percent and Canon is gaining almost 1 percent, while Panasonic is edging down 0.1 percent. Sony is flat.

Among the other major gainers, Mercari is skyrocketing more than 15 percent, Olympus is soaring more than 11 percent and Tokyu Fudosan is surging almost 6 percent, while UBE and Konica Minolta are gaining more than 4 percent each, while Kubota, Ebara, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Furukawa Electric are adding more than 3 percent each. Mitsui Kinzoku, NTN and Haseko are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Mazda Motor is slipping almost 6 percent and Omron is declining more than 5 percent, while Sumitomo Pharma and Chugai Pharmaceutical are losing more than 3 percent each. Recruit Holdings and Nintendo is down almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 153 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is up 2. 9 percent, while Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.4 and 0.8 percent each. Singapore is bucking the trend and is down 0.7 percent. New Zealand and China are relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant rebound over the course of the trading day on Friday after initially extending the sharp pullback seen during Thursday's session. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching positive territory.

The major averages ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Nasdaq dipped 49.46 points or 0.2 percent to 23,004.54 after plunging by as much as 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 inched up 8.48 points or 0.1 percent to 6,278.80 and the Dow rose 74.80 points or 0.2 percent to 46,987.10.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.6 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices saw modest gains on Friday as a weakening dollar was offset by reports of oversupply and low demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.38 or 0.64 percent at $59.81 per barrel.