FX.co ★ Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

On Thursday, Asian stock markets are trading dominantly on a positive note, following similar trends from Wall Street. These gains have been strengthened by the robust performance in the Chinese and Hong Kong markets due to newly announced stimulus from China aimed at invigorating their sluggish economy. In an unexpected move, China will trim banks' reserve ratio by 50 basis points next month, injecting cash into the banking system. Asian markets on Wednesday had a mixed closing.

The Australian stock market is showing slight gains on Thursday, building on the successes of the preceding four sessions, guided by the varied signals from Wall Street. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 remains above the 7,500 level, with increases in the energy and mining sectors counterbalance by losses in the finance and tech sectors.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index is up by 26.90 points or 0.36 percent to 7,546.10, after reaching a peak of 7,551.40. The broader All Ordinaries Index rose by 26.30 points or 0.34 percent to 7,774.40. On Wednesday, Australian stocks saw slight gains.

Major miners are performing well with BHP Group, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals, and Mineral Resources seeing gains between 1 to 6 percent. Oil stocks are also on the rise with companies like Santos, Origin Energy, Beach Energy, and Woodside Energy showing gains.

In contrast, tech companies like Appen, Block (Afterpay owner), Xero, Zip, and WiseTech Global are all in decline. Similarly, among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking, and National Australia Bank are experiencing small losses, while Westpac remains unchanged.

Gold miners are mainly on the incline with Evolution Mining, Northern Star Resources, and Resolute Mining showing gains. However, Newmont and Gold Road Resources have minor losses.

In other news, after disappointing quarterly results, shares in Domino's Pizza plummeted by 30 percent. Shares in ResMed increased by nearly 8 percent after the medical technology developer maintained its quarterly dividend at US$48 cents. However, after reducing staff at its North American site, shares in Sayona Mining plunged by 9 percent.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.658 on Thursday.

Following the mixed cues from Wall Street, the Japanese market records modest losses on Thursday, extending the losses of the previous two days. The Nikkei 225 is dropping below the 36,200 level, with most sectors, especially exporters and financial stocks, showing weaknesses.

The Nikkei 225 Index settled the morning session at 36,162.01, down 64.47 points or 0.18 percent, just after touching a low of 35,912.54. On Wednesday, Japanese shares had ended notably lower.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing are both losing nearly 1 percent. Automakers Toyota and Honda are actively trading. In the tech space, companies like Advantest, Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are seeing minor gains.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is showing a 0.4 percent decline. Major exporters Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are both losing nearly 1 percent, while Panasonic is down almost 2 percent. Canon remains unchanged.

However, some of the biggest gainers include Nidec and M3 along with DIC, Daiwa Securities, Nomura Holdings, Nippon Paper Industries and Lasertec, showing more than 3 percent gain each.

On Thursday, the U.S. dollar is trading in a higher 147 yen-range.

In other parts of Asia, China and Hong Kong both show increases of 1.7 and 1.0 percent respectively. With gains between 0.1 to 0.7 percent, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Indonesia are performing positively, while Singapore and South Korea are down by 0.1 and 0.4 percent respectively. The Malaysian market is closed due to Thaipusam.

On Wednesday, Wall Street saw a strong upward trend in early trading but receded over time. Major averages withdrew considerably from their session highs in the afternoon, with the Dow slipping into negative territory.The trading session concluded with a mixed performance from major averages. The Nasdaq increased by 55.98 points or 0.4 percent, finishing at 15,481.92, while the S&P 500 slightly rose by 3.95 points or 0.1 percent, totaling 4,868.55. On the other hand, the Dow dropped by 99.06 points or 0.3 percent, closing at 37,806.39.

On another note, major European markets went on an upward trend throughout the day. Specifically, the German DAX Index leaped by 1.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index ascended by 0.9 percent, and the UK's FTSE 100 Index escalated by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices experienced a hike on Wednesday due to data revealing a significantly larger decline in US crude inventories than anticipated. A weakening dollar also factored into the oil price inflation. Consequently, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March increased by $0.72 or close to 1 percent, settling at $75.09 per barrel.