Asian markets are mostly trading in positive territory on Thursday with the overnight surge on Wall Street aiding sentiment to a notable extent. Despite the Federal Reserve acknowledging that the U.S. economic recovery was slowing, stocks rallied on Wall Street, setting up a strong base for the Asian markets today. Though most of the markets in the region have come off the day's highs, the mood currently remains fairly positive.
Financial, consumer discretionary, mining and energy stocks are mostly trading higher in the Australian market. Information technology, healthcare and industrial stocks are also trading firm.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which rose to 4,593, is currently up 44.8 points or 1% at 4,582. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 4,620, up 41.7 points or 0.9% over its previous close.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac are up 0.3%-0.7%, and National Australia Bank is up as much as 2.5%. Bank of Queensland is up with a modest gain, while Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is down with a marginal loss.
Among top miners, BHP Billiton is up 1.5%, Rio Tinto is gaining about 1.7% and Fortescue Metals is up with a gain of 2.5%, while Newcrest Mining is up 0.7% over its previous closing price.
In the energy space, Origin Energy is gaining about 1%, Oil Search is up 1.4% and Woodside Petroleum is trading 0.7% higher.
Santos Ltd shares are under a trading halt as the company enters the final stages of the sell-down of its stake in a liquefied gas project in Queensland. The A$7.7 billion Gladstone liquefied natural gas project in Queensland is a joint-venture with Malaysia's Petronas, which has agreed to buy some of the gas from the project.
In economic news, Australia's unemployment rate declined in August to a seasonally adjusted 5.1%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. Most economists had forecast a decrease of 0.1% to 5.2%.
The figure was a decline of 0.2% from the 5.3% jobless rate of July. The ABS said the number of employed Australians increased by 30,900 in August. The bureau said the rise in employment was driven by an increase in full-time employment, which was up 53,100, while part-time employment decreased by 22.100 people.
Upon the release of the data, the Australian dollar touched an all-time high of 1.3798 against the euro and more than a four-month high of 0.9239 against the U.S. dollar. The Australian dollar that closed Wednesday's North American deals at 0.9184 against the greenback and 1.3859 against the euro is presently quoted at 0.9223 and 1.3814, respectively. Currently, the Australian dollar is trading at 0.9215 against the U.S. dollar.
The Japanese market is trading firm with investors picking up front line stocks from across various sectors.
Steel, real estate, precision instruments and pulp & paper stocks are mostly up in positive territory. Automobile, banking and chemicals stocks are trading mixed. Electric power and pharmaceuticals stocks are also exhibiting a mixed trend.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which advanced to 9,136 in early trades, was up 70.92 points or 0.79% at 9,095.52 at the end of the morning session.
Trend Micro Inc. shares are up over 18% on reports that the company has been approached for a possible takeover. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. shares are up over 4% following a rating upgrade from Credit Suisse Group.
Isuzu Motors shares are up over 2% on reports the company plans to spend about 10 billion yen to increase production of pickup trucks in Thailand.
Shares of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. are up sharply after the company said it will spend one billion yen by May 2011 to expand production of lithium-ion battery materials.
Pacific Metals, Toyota Motor, Dowa Holdings, Sumitomo Metal, Mitsui, Mitsubishi Rayon and T&D Holdings are up 2%-3.5%.
Mitsubishi Logistics, JFE Holdings, Asahi Glass, GS Yuasa, Tokio Marine, Shinsei Bank, Mizuho Trust & Banking, Nisshin Steel, Hino Motors, Inpex, Fujifilm Holding and Shizuoka Bank are also trading notably higher.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded around 84 yen in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 83.76 to the U.S. dollar.
The South Korean market is trading flat with investors treading cautiously despite a positive close on Wall Street overnight and a fairly steady trend across market in the Asia-Pacific region.
The benchmark KOSPI index, which rose to 1,790.5 after opening modestly higher, is currently at 1,779, down slightly from the unchanged line.
The South Korean central bank today decided to hold interest rates at the current level of 2.25%, surprising many analysts who had expected a hike of 25 basis points to 2.5%. Most analysts were expecting the move on rates following last month's pause after the central bank had unexpectedly raised rates by 25 basis points from the record low of 2% on July 9.
The rate had held steady for 16 straight months, after the bank had trimmed rates six times in the previous four months.
Meanwhile, South Korea's economic growth appears to have firmed going into the September quarter, with the latest industry and retail sales numbers showing strength, although trade slowed due to seasonal factors. While headline inflation stagnated at 2.6% in August, core inflation picked up to 1.8% from 1.7% in July. The central bank has an inflation target of 3%, with a tolerance range of plus or minus 1 percentage point.
Bank stocks are trading mostly in positive territory. Woori Finance and KB Financial are up with modest gains and Shinhan Financial is gaining about 1.7%, while Korea Exchange Bank is down 0.6% from its previous closing price.
Among technology stocks, Hynix Semiconductor and Samsung Electronics are down 2.6% and 1.4%, respectively. LG Display LCD is up 1.5%, while LG Electronics is trading flat.
In the shipping space, STX Pan Ocean, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Hyundai Heavy Industries are up 0.5%-1%, while Samsung Heavy Industries is trading flat.
Automobile stocks are trading weak. Steel stocks Hyundai Steel and POSCO are up 1.8% and 0.8%, respectively. Among Oil stocks, SK Holdings is up 1.3% and S-Oil is gaining about 2%. KEPCO is up with a modest gain of 0.6%.
Airliners Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are trading lower by 3.2% and 4%, respectively. Telecommunications stocks are trading mixed.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong and Indonesia are trading notably higher. Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan are up marginally, while Shanghai and New Zealand are trading weak. Markets across the region ended mostly lower on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved higher on Wednesday amid some relief buying following news of continued albeit slower U.S. economic recovery as seen by the Federal Reserve and solid demand for Portugal's bond offerings.
The major averages saw considerable volatility in late-session dealings but still managed to close on the upside. The Dow gained 46.3 points or 0.4% to end at 10,387, the Nasdaq advanced by about 20 points or 0.9% to 2,228.9 and the S&P 500 ended up 7 points or 0.6% at 1,098.9.
Major European markets saw solid gains on Wednesday. The French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index gained 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index ended 0.4% up.
Crude oil prices surged higher on Wednesday, but gains were tempered after the Federal Reserve acknowledged signs of deceleration in the pace of U.S. economic recovery. Light, sweet crude for October delivery settled up US$0.58 at US$74.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.