Asian stock are mostly higher on Monday after initial weakness in some markets, following mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday. Markets were boosted by positive economic news out of China and the prospects of the stimulus-driven global economic recovery after passage of the US coronavirus relief package last week. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.
The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Monday after being in the red earlier, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just below the 6,800 level, as weakness in major miners was offset by gains in energy and financial stocks. The cues were mixed from Wall Street on Friday.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gain 17.80 points or 0.26 percent to 6,784.60, after hitting a low of 6,727.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 13.70 points or 0.20 percent to 7,028.30. Australian stocks closed higher on Friday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.4 percent, and Rio Tinto is losing almost 2 percent each. Fortescue Metals is down more than 4 percent and Mineral Resources is losing almost 2 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher, with Oil Search is up almost 1 percent, Woodside Petroleum adding more than 1 percent, and Santos gaining almost 2 percent.
The big four banks are higher. National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are edging up 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are adding almost 1 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay is lower by more than 4 percent and Appen is edging down 0.5 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging up 0.5 percent
Gold miners are higher, with Newcrest Mining rising more than 1 percent, Northern Star Resources edging up 0.1 percent and Evolution Mining is adding almost 3 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.775 on Monday.
Japanese stock market is higher on Monday, extending gains of the previous four sessions, with the Nikkei 225 breaking above the 29,800 level, as investors continue to be upbeat about the prospects of a global economic recovers. The broad-based gains in the market are led by financial and automakers. The cues from Wall Street on Friday were mixed.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 29,815.62, up 97.79 points or 0.33 percent, after touching a high of 29,884.73 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is down more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is advancing more than 3 percent and Toyota is up almost 2 percent.
The major exporters are also mostly higher. Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are edging up 0.2 percent each. Canon is gaining more than 1 percent, while Panasonic is edging down 0.5 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 1 percent each. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is rising almost 3 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 3 percent.
Shares in Rakuten Inc are soaring more than 18 percent after the Japanese e-commerce company agreed to sell a stake to postal and banking giant Japan Post Holdings Co Ltd. to strengthen an alliance forged last year between the two on logistics.
Among the other major gainers, Mitsui E&S Holdings is climbing more than 8 percent, and Kawasaki Kisen is gaining more than 6 percent. Nippon Yusen, Oki Electric Industry and JCG Holdings are adding more than 4 percent.
Conversely, Sharp is losing almost 7 percent and Konami Holdings is lower by almost 4 percent. Z Holdings and Japan Steel are declining more than 2 percent each. Shinsei Bank is down almost 2 percent.
In economic news, the value of core machine orders in Japan slipped a seasonally adjusted 4.5 percent on month in January, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - standing at 841.7 billion yen. That exceeded expectations for a decline of 5.5 percent following the upwardly revised 5.3 percent increase in December. On a yearly basis, core machine orders climbed 1.5 percent - again beating forecasts for a decline of 0.2 percent after spiking 11.8 percent in the previous month. The forecast for Q1 2021 core machine orders suggests a decline of 6.0 percent on quarter and 5.2 percent on year.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 109 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand and Hong Kong are adding around 1 percent each, while Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore all advancing between 0.1 and 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, China, Indonesia and Taiwan are edging down.
On Wall Street, extending its winning streak to six consecutive sessions, the Dow showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Friday, The blue chip index jumped 293.05 points or 0.9 percent to a new record closing high of 32,778.64.
The S&P 500 also inched up 4.00 points or 0.1 percent to a new record closing high of 3,943.34, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed well off its worst levels of the day but still closed down 78.81 points or 0.6 percent at 13,319.86.
The major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices fluctuated on Friday as traders remained optimistic about the outlook for energy demand but seemed reluctant to continue pushing oil prices higher. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery closed down $0.41 at $65.61 a barrel.
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