(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates following a stronger than expected jobs report from the U.S. The easing of COVID-19 restrictions also aided market sentiment. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.
However, US Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard reportedly said it's "very hard to see the case for a pause" in rate hikes and the central bank still has "a lot of work to do to get inflation down to the 2 percent target."
The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Monday, giving up the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just above the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness in technology, materials and financial stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks amid rising crude oil prices.
Traders also remain cautious ahead of Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision on Tuesday. The RBA is widely expected to continue raising interest rates to tame ballooning inflation.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 32.50 points or 0.45 percent to 7,206.30, after hitting a low of 7,195.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 38.20 points or 0.51 percent to 7,434.20. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Friday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals and OZ Minerals are declining almost 2 percent each.
Oil stocks are higher. Santos and Beach energy are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Woodside Energy is adding more than 2 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.
Among tech stocks, Xero is losing almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is declining more than 2 percent and Appen is down almost 3 percent, while Afterpay owner Block and Zip are slipping more than 5 percent each.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources is losing almost 3 percent and Newcrest Mining is down almost 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources, Resolute Mining and Evolution Mining are slipping almost 2 percent each.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing more than 1 percent and ANZ Banking is edging down 0.5 percent.
In other news, shares in Magellan Financial are plunging almost 11 percent after the company's funds under management declined in May.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.720 on Monday. The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Monday after being in the red most of the morning session, extending the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 27,800 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with local energy stocks tracking higher crude oil prices. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,844.26, up 82.69 or 0.30 percent, after touching a high of 27,855.96 and a low of 27,523.95 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are losing almost 1 percent each.
In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.2 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 1 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower, with Panasonic losing more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric down almost 1 percent and Sony slipping almost 2 percent, while Canon is gaining almost 1 percent. Among the other major gainers, Kawasaki Heavy Industries is surging almost 6 percent and Hitachi Zosen is gaining more than 5 percent, while Kobe Steel and West Japan Railway are adding almost 4 percent each. East Japan Railway and Japan Steel Works are up more than 3 percent each, while Idemitsu Kosan, Keisei Electric Railway, Tobu Railway, Teijin, Keio, ANA Holdings and ENEOS Holdings are rising almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Dentsu Group is losing almost 4 percent, while Z Holdings and Recruit Holdings are down more than 3 percent each. Taiyo Yuden and TDK are declining almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 130 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 1.1 percent, while China, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.3 and 0.8 percent each. Indonesia and Singapore are down 0.9 and 0.2 percent, respectively. South Korea is closed for Memorial Day, Malaysia is closed for Yang Dipertuan Agong's birthday and New Zealand is closed for Queen's Birthday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Friday, largely offsetting the rally seen over the course of the previous session. The major averages all showed notable moves to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.
The major averages finished the session near their worst levels of the day. While the Nasdaq plunged 304.16 points or 2.5 percent to 12,012.73, the S&P 500 tumbled 68.28 points or 1.6 percent to 4,108.54 and the Dow slumped 348.58 points or 1.1 percent to 32,899.70.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day, with the U.K. markets still closed for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both edged down by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday on expectations of increased demand even as OPEC decided to increase output. Stronger than expected U.S. non-farm payroll employment in May also offered support. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $2.00 or 1.7 percent at $118.87 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.
