Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, as a temporary tariff truce materialized between the U.S. and China wherein China agreed to buy more U.S. energy. This gave fresh optimism about smooth trade relations between the two major oil consumers of the world. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.
China will also lift export controls on rare earths and end investigations into U.S. semiconductor firms.
In the recent meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, both leaders agreed to extend the tariff truce. Overall U.S. tariff rates on Chinese imports now stand at 47% from an earlier 57%.
The Australian stock market is slightly lower on Monday, adding the losses in the previous four sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying below the 8,850 level, with weakness in materials stocks partially offset by gains in energy, financial and technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 5.10 points or 0.06 percent to 8,876.80, after hitting a low of 8,833.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 8.60 points or 0.09 percent to 9,169.40. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.
Among the major miners, Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent, while BHP Group and Fortescue are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each. Rio Tinto is flat.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are adding almost 1 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is adding almost 3 percent, Zip is advancing more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.4 percent and Xero is up more than 1 percent, while Appen is losing more than 3 percent.
Gold miners are weak. Evolution Mining and Genesis Minerals are declining almost 3 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is losing almost 2 percent, Newmont is down more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is tumbling more than 5 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining more than 1 percent, National Australia Bank is edging up 0.4 percent, ANZ Banking is adding almost 1 percent and Westpac is advancing almost 3 percent.
In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia fell into contraction territory in October, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a Performance of Manufacturing Index score of 49.7. That’s down from 51.4 in September, and it falls beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
The total number of building permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 12.0 percent on month in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday – coming in at 17,019. That beat forecasts for an increase of 5.1 percent following the upwardly revised 3.6 percent drop in August (originally -6.0 percent). On a yearly basis, approvals were up 12.4 percent after slipping 0.7 percent in the previous month.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.655 on Monday.
The Japanese stock market is is closed for Culture Day on Monday. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Friday.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 154 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Indonesia are up 2.1 and 1.1 percent, respectively. New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.6 percent each. Taiwan is bucking the trend and is down 0.1 percent. China is relatively flat.
On Wall Street, stocks saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading day on Friday after showing a strong move to the upside early in the session. The major averages pulled back off their early highs in mid-day trading before moving back to the upside only to once again give back ground going into the end the session.
Despite the late-day pullback, the major averages all ended the day in positive territory. The Nasdaq climbed 143.81 points or 0.6 percent to 23,724.96, the S&P 500 rose 17.86 points or 0.3 percent to 6,840.20 and the Dow inched up 40.75 points or 0.1 percent to 47,562.87.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.6 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices edged higher Friday following reports the U.S. intends to strike Venezuelan military installations. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.41 or 0.68 percent at $60.98 per barrel.
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