Asian Markets Track Global Markets Higher

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, as traders reacted to US data showing much stronger than expected job growth in March that pointed to a robust economy. They also remain cautious ahead of the monetary policy decisions from central banks in the region, including New Zealand and South Korea. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.

The markets also await reports on consumer and producer price inflation for the month of March from the U.S later in the week.

The Australian stock market is currently trading modestly higher on Monday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving a tad below the 7,800.00 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, with gains gold mining, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 16.80 points or 0.22 percent to 7,790.10, after touching a high of 7,801.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 21.10 points or 0.26 percent to 8,047.10. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Friday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is losing more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is declining 1.5 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent. Beach energy is tumbling almost 19 percent after saying it expects costs at its WA-based Waitsia gas plant to increase by as much as $200 million.

Among tech stocks, Xero and Appen are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent and Afterpay owner Block is adding 2.5 percent. Zip is slipping more than 3 percent.

Gold miners are higher. Gold Road Resources, Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Newmont is advancing more than 5 percent. Evolution Mining is edging down 0.1 percent

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank gaining almost 1 percent each, Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in Life360 are soaring more than 17 percent after the family monitoring app maker said it was outpacing market expectations after drawing in 4.8 million active users in a record first quarter.

Shares in Elders collapsed 25 percent to $7.43 after its 2024 first-half trading came in “significantly below expectations” due to the impact of El Niño, low farmgate prices and sustained margin pressures.

Shares in Qoria are skyrocketing 30 percent after the board of cyber safety and internet monitoring group knocked back a 40 cent per share buyout bid from American software investor K1.

Shares in Ansell remain in a halt after the company is set to buy personal protective equipment manufacturer Kimberly-Clark in a deal worth US$640 ($974 million), which will include a $400 capital raising.

Shares in APM Human Services are plummeting 28 percent after its largest shareholder, Chicago-headquartered private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners, submitted a revised non-binding indicative offer for the embattled employment services group over the weekend.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.658 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Monday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 39,500 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets cues on Friday, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,517.81, up 525.73 points or 1.35 percent, after touching a high of 39,617.36 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding 2.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 2 percent and Toyota is also adding almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining more than 2 percent, Advantest is edging up 0.2 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding 1.5 percent.

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

The major exporters are higher. Canon is gaining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 3 percent, while Panasonic and Sony are up more than 1 percent each.

Among other major gainers, Socionext is soaring almost 8 percent, Fujitsu is surging more than 6 percent, Disco is gaining more than 5 percent and Japan Exchange Group is adding almost 5 percent, while Suzuki Motor, Renesas Electronics and Recruit Holdings are advancing more than 4 percent each. Tokyo Electric Power, Nomura Holdings, Fujikura, Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsubishi Electric are up more than 3 percent each, while JTEKT, Furukawa Electric and Mitsui & Co. are rising almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 151 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 1.0 percent, while China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each. New Zealand is bucking the trend and is down 0.5 percent. Indonesia is closed for Eid-ul-Fitr.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant move back to the upside during trading on Friday following the sell-off seen late in the previous session. The major averages all moved notably higher, largely offsetting Thursday’s steep losses.

The major averages finished the day off their highs of the session but still firmly in positive territory. The Nasdaq surged 199.44 points or 1.2 percent to 16,248.52, the S&P 500 jumped 57.13 points or 1.1 percent to 5,204.34 and the Dow advanced 307.06 points or 0.8 percent to 38,904.04.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices rose on Friday, extending recent gains on supply worries due to geopolitical tensions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May added $0.32 or 0.37 percent at $86.91 a barrel, settling at a fresh five-month high. WTI crude futures gained 4 percent in the week.