(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher in thin trading on Wednesday with most of the markets in the region closed for Lunar New Year holidays, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, as strong gains are seen in the energy and materials sectors amid higher commodity prices traders. Traders also continue to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following a disappointing January.
Lingering worries about the surge in cases of the coronavirus omicron variant in several countries continues to impact market sentiment. Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.
Traders also seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of the U.S. Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday as well as the monetary policy meetings of the Bank of England and the European Central Bank this week.
The Australian stock market is sharply higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,100 level, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, with energy and materials stocks leading the gains amid higher commodity prices.
Traders also await Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe's speech on the economic outlook later in the day after the RBA decided yesterday to hold its cash rate but to end its bond-buying program.
Meanwhile, concerns over the domestic Covid-19 cases have softened as the daily new cases are on a steady decline. New South Wales reported 11,807 new cases and 27 deaths on Monday and Victoria also reported 14,553 new cases and 25 deaths. Queensland recorded 9,630 new cases and 16 deaths, Northern Territory reported 1,201 new cases and one death, South Australia reported 1,723 new cases and one death, Tasmania reported 666 new cases and ACT reported 549 new cases.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 75.60 points or 1.08 percent to 7,081.60, after touching a high of 7,107.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 78.10 points or 1.07 percent to 7,390.90. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is adding more than 2 percent, OZ Minerals is gaining more than 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is surging more than 4 percent, while Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are advancing almost 3 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Petroleum is gaining 2.5 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are adding more than 2 percent each. Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.
In the tech space, WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Zip is losing more than 2 percent and Block is declining more than 3 percent. Appen is flat.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.3 percent each.
Among gold miners, Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is surging more than 5 percent and Northern Star Resources is adding more than 2 percent. Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.4 percent. In other news, Shares in Brainchip are spiking more than 9 percent after the processor designer said it was awarded another US patent.
Shares in Lumos are rocketing more than 14 percent the diagnostics business confirmed the Victorian government will help fund onshore production of its COViDx rapid test if it gets Therapeutic Goods Administration approval. Telco giant Telstra is planning to spend more than $1.4 billion on two major infrastructure projects to boost connectivity and internet speeds across Australia. The stock is up more than 1 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.713 on Wednesday. The Japanese stock market is sharply higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei index adding more than 400 points to just below the 27,500 level, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, with gains across most sectors, particularly technology and financials.
Lingering concerns about the impact of the rapid spread of the coronavirus Omicron variant remain. Tokyo and 33 of the 47 prefectures have been placed under a quasi-state of emergency last week.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,497.60, up 419.12 points or 1.55 percent, after touching a high of 27,550.05 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly higher on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 2 percent and Toyota is adding almost 2 percent.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent, Advantest is adding more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 3 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are adding 1.5 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining almost 2 percent, Sony is adding almost 4 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is up almost 2 percent, while Canon is flat.
Among the other major gainers, Nomura Holdings, CyberAgent and Pacific Metals are surging almost 7 percent each, while Fujitsu, Keyence and Z Holdings are gaining almost 6 percent each. Shionogi & Co., Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, ANA Holdings, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Sumco and Isuzu Motors are adding almost 5 percent each, while Mitsubishi Motors, NTN and NSK are advancing more than 4 percent each.
Conversely, Konica Minolta is losing almost 5 percent and Nichirei is down almost 4 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 114 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, most of the regional bourses continue to be closed on Wednesday for the Lunar New Year holidays, including South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. New Zealand and Indonesia are up 1.4 and 0.8 percent, respectively.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading session on Tuesday but managed to end the day mostly higher. With the upward move, the major averages added to the strong gains posted in the two previous sessions.
The major averages moved to the upside going into the close, ending the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow advanced 273.38 points or 0.8 percent to 35,405.24, the Nasdaq climbed 106.12 points or 0.8 percent to 14,346.00 and the S&P 500 rose 30.99 points or 0.7 percent at 4,546.54.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 surged up by 1.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both jumped by 1 percent.
Crude oil prices settled slightly higher on Tuesday, with traders largely making cautious moves ahead of the OPEC+ meeting. Investors also kept an eye on developments in the Ukraine for direction. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March edged up by $0.05 or 0.06% at $88.20 a barrel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
