Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautiously optimistic about easing of hostilities in the Middle East. Concerns remain about the fragility of the ceasefire in the Middle East, with Iran accusing the U.S. and Israel of violating the agreement. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.

Iran permitted restricted ship movement via the Strait of Hormuz, while Israel attacked Lebanon ahead of U.S.-Iran talks.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh claimed in an interview with the BBC that Iran had once again closed the Strait of Hormuz. Khatibzadeh argued Israel's bombardment of Lebanon earlier in the day was an "intentional grave violation" of the ceasefire agreement.

The Middle East is cooling off from the nearly six-week war between U.S.-Israeli forces and Iran after a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire was accepted by both the U.S. and Iran. Delegations from both the nations are arriving in Islamabad, Pakistan later in the day to utilize this two-week "pause" to charter a framework for negotiations to end the conflict permanently.

The first round of discussions is scheduled to commence on Saturday, with the U.S. negotiating team led by Vice President JD Vance.

The Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Friday, snapping a three-session winning streak, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,950 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 36.50 points or 0.41 percent to 8,936.70, after hitting a low of 8,905.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 38.90 points or 0.42 percent to 9,130.00. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is down almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is edging down 0.2 percent, while BHP Group and Fortescue are losing almost 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy, Woodside Energy and Santos are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay-owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, Xero is slipping more than 3 percent and WiseTech Global is declining 2 percent, while Zip and Appen are down more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Gold miners are weak. Northern Star Resources is declining more than 1 percent, Evolution Mining is losing more than 3 percent and Newmont is down almost 1 percent, while Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are slipping almost 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.707 on Friday. The Japanese market is trading sharply higher on Friday, reversing the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 56,700 level, with gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 56,728.95, up 833.63 points or 1.49 percent, after touching a high of 56,251.18 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is surging more than 9 percent after raising its full-year operating profit forecast on robust demand from the US and Europe. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.1 percent and Honda is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is advancing almost 2 percent, Screen Holdings is surging almost 5 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.4 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is flat.

Among the major exporters, Sony and Canon are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is gaining more than 2 percent and Panasonic is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Fujikura is soaring more than 9 percent, Kioxia Holdings is jumping almost 9 percent and Fanuc is surging almost 6 percent, while Amada, Yaskawa Electric and Sumco are advancing almost 5 percent each. Tokyo Electric Power and Resonac Holdings are gaining more than 4 percent each, while OKUMA and disco are adding almost 4 percent each. Lasertec and Minebea Mitsumi are up more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, BayCurrent is tumbling almost 6 percent and SHIFT is sliding more than 5 percent, while Trend Micro and NEC are declining more than 4 percent each. Mercari is slipping almost 4 percent, while Otsuka Holdings, M3, Shionogi & Co., Marubeni and KDDI are losing more than 3 percent each. Shimizu, CyberAgent, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Nissui and IHI are down almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the value of overall bank lending in Japan was up 4.8 percent on year in March, the Bank of Japan or BoJ, said on Friday - coming in at 667.021 trillion yen. That beat expectations for an increase of 4.4 percent and was up from 4.5 percent in February. Excluding trusts, bank lending was up an annual 5.2 percent to 587.705 trillion yen, up from 4.9 percent in the previous month.

The BoJ also said producer prices in Japan were up 0.8 percent on month in March. That missed expectations for an increase of 0.9 percent following the upwardly revised 0.1 percent gain in February (originally -0.1 percent). On a yearly basis, producer prices were up 2.6 percent - exceeding expectations for 2.4 percent and up from the upwardly revised 2.1 percent increase in the previous month (originally 2.0 percent).

Export prices were up 0.8 percent on month and 7.1 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices rose 1.5 percent on month and 2.2 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 159 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia and South Korea are up 2.2 and 1.9 percent, respectively. China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. New Zealand is bucking the trend and is down 0.9 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back ground in early trading on Thursday but showed a notable turnaround over the course of the day, following the substantial rally seen during Wednesday's session. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session and into positive territory.

The major averages added to the strong gains posted yesterday, reaching their best closing levels in over a month. The Nasdaq advanced 187.42 points or 0.8 percent to 22,822.42, the Dow climbed 275.88 points or 0.6 percent to 48,185.80 and the S&P 500 rose 41.85 points or 0.6 percent to 6,824.66.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved back to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Thursday as Iran allowed only restricted naval traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, renewing supply disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $3.25 or 3.44 percent at $97.66 per barrel.