Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following he broadly positive cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street on Friday, on easing global inflationary pressures amid easing Middle East tensions and hopes the US Fed will not tighten its monetary policy for now. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.

The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Monday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, following he broadly positive cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,850.00 level, with weakness in gold miners and financial stocks partially offset by gains in energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 2.50 points or 0.03 percent to 8,841.90, after hitting a low of 8,817.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 2.20 points or 0.02 percent to 9,046.10. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, Fortescue is gaining almost 2 percent and Rio Tinto is edging up 0.4 percent, while BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent and Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is edging up 0.4 percent and Santos is adding more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Appen is gaining almost 2 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 1 percent. Zip is edging down 0.3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Genesis Minerals is tumbling more than 6 percent, Resolute Mining is declining 1.5 percent and Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent, while Evolution Mining is edging up 0.2 percent. Newmont is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.1 percent.

In other news, shares in Vault Minerals are surging almost 9 percent after receiving a binding takeover proposal from Genesis Minerals, valuing the gold miner at $5.6 billion to trump an existing offer from Regis Resources. Genesis has offered 0.7629 of its shares plus 47.5¢ cash for each Vault share.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.693 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly lower in choppy trading on Monday after alternating across the unchanged line, reversing some of the sharp gains in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street on Friday. The Nikkei 225 falling well below the 68,950 level, with weakness in technology stocks partially offset gains in automaker and exporter stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 68,919.14, down 824.93 points or 1.18 percent, after touching a high of 70,384.59 and a low of 68,904.41 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Friday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.1 percent, Screen Holdings is tumbling almost 6 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are adding almost 1 percent each.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Panasonic is up almost 1 percent. Sony is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Taiyo Yuden is tumbling almost 7 percent, while Socionext, Minebea Mitsumi and Murata Manufacturing are sliding almost 5 percent each. Ibiden is slipping almost 4 percent, TDK is declining more than 3 percent and SHIFT is losing almost 6 percent.

Conversely, Kawasaki Heavy Industries is jumping almost 8 percent, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is soaring almost 6 percent and Japan Steel Works is surging more than 5 percent, while IHI and Taisei are advancing almost 5 percent each. Keisei Electric Railway and Hitachi are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Mazda Motor, JFE Holdings, NSK, Shimizu and CyberAgent are gaining more than 3 percent each. Obayashi and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are adding almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 161 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 1.1 percent, while New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each. South Korea and China are down 1.7 and 0.2, percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, the markets were closed for Independence Day on Friday after closing higher on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the major European markets saw modest gains thanks to easing Middle East tensions. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.25 percent, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 moved up 0.78 percent and 0.39 percent, respectively.

Crude Oil prices held steady on Friday but headed for their fourth straight weekly loss on eased concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery edged up 0.2 percent to $68.84 per barrel.