Asian stock markets are mostly trading higher on Friday following positive economic data from the U.S overnight. However, gains are not significantly pronounced as investors treaded cautiously ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy decision and release of the U.S. nonfarm payroll report later in the day.
The Labor Department said Thursday that initial jobless claims rose by less than expected in the week ended September 29, sparking optimism about the payroll data due on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan will on Friday conclude its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to keep rates on hold at the current level of 0 to 0.10 percent.
Also, the European Central Bank on Thursday left euro area interest rates unchanged, as expected, amid uncertainty regarding a Spanish request for bailout and its fallout. The U.K. central bank also refrained from a quantitative easing increase.
The Australian market is trading higher on Friday with investors picking up stocks, buoyed by some encouraging economic data from the U.S.
Consumer staples, healthcare and mining stocks are trading firm. Energy and industrial stocks are also finding support, while financial and property trusts stocks are a bit subdued.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is up 24.6 points or 0.5 percent at 4,477. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 4,496, up 23.4 points or 0.5 percent from its previous close.
Top miners BHP Billiton (BHP, BBL) and Rio Tinto (RIO, RIO.L) are up 0.6 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search are trading modestly higher, while Santos, Origin Energy and Caltex Australia are up 1 to 1.4 percent.
In the banking space, ANZ Bank and Westpac (WBK) are up marginally, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank are trading slightly weak.
Arrium Limited and Perseus Mining are trading higher by 4.8 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. Bluescope Steel, Regis Resources and Sims Metal Management are up 3 to 3.8 percent.
Echo Entertainment Group, Newcrest Mining, Atlas Iron, Orica, Alumina (AWC), Treasury Wine Estates, Fortescue Metals, Lynas Corporation, Coca-Cola Amatil, PanAust and Oz Minerals are all trading higher by 1.6 to 2.8 percent.
Woolworths Limited shares are up nearly 2 percent after the company said it will spin off its shopping centres into a new property trust, and tap investors for up to A$506 million to help fund the deal.
Woolworths will create the Shopping Centres Australasia Property Group as a real estate investment trust to control the retailer's 69 shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand.
Bank of Queensland shares are down 3.7 percent. The bank, which posted a first-half loss of A$90.6 million back in February, has announced that it expects to make a profit of A$70 million to A$75 million in the second half of its fiscal year. That would result in a full year loss of between A$20.6 million and A$15.6 million.
Whitehaven Coal is trading lower by 1.6 percent and Insurance Australia Group, another prominent loser, is down by about 1.4 percent.
On the economic front, Australia's construction industry fell further into contraction in September, according to survey results released Friday by the Australia Industry Group and the Housing Industry Association.
The group's Performance of Construction Index fell by 1.3 points to 30.9. AIG said the construction sector contraction was at its sharpest rate in a full year.
All major sub-sectors showed declines, AIG/HIA said. The apartment construction sector fell to a reading of 26.0 and house building fell to 28.5. The overall index has now been in contraction for 28 straight months.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened higher on positive global data and stronger commodity prices. In early trades, the Aussie was quoting at US$1.0241, up from Thursday's close of US$1.0234.
The Japanese market is trading notably higher with the overnight surge on Wall Street on the back of some encouraging economic data aiding sentiment. A section of investors, however, appear to be treading a bit cautiously ahead of the central bank's interest rate decision.
Shares from insurance, securities and rubber sections are mostly trading higher. Automobile and financial stocks are also moving up. Marine transport stocks moved up, following the Baltic Dry Index extending its surge to a fifth successive day on Thursday.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which rose to 8,880.2, is currently trading at 8,861, up 36.4 points or 0.4 percent from its previous close.
Shionogi & Co. shares are up 4.8 percent. Sumitomo Metal Mining is trading higher by around 4 percent.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Toho Zinc, Furukawa, Mitsumi Electric, Sumco Corp., Mitsui OSK Lines, Mitsubishi Materials, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings and Dai-ichi Life Insurance are trading higher by 2 to 3 percent.
Trend Micro, Tokai Carbon, Inpex Corp., Yahoo Japan, Komatsu, Pacific Metals, Japan Tobacco, Fast Retailing, Sumitomo Osaka, Nippon Yusen KK and Fuji Electric are also trading notably higher.
Takeda Pharmaceutical said it will buy U.S. bio venture firm LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals Inc. to strengthen its vaccine business and broaden its lineup of candidate drugs.
Takeda will make this acquisition through its U.S. unit for an upfront payment of $60 million, or about 4.7 billion yen. The deal is expected to be completed within the next few weeks. The stock is currently trading higher by about half a percent.
Among the notable losers, Nikon Corp. is down 3.6 percent, Mitsubishi Motors, Unitika, Fujitsu, Sharp Corp., Nisshin Steel Holdings, Softbank Corp., Kobe Steel, Kansai Electric Power, J Front Retailing and Nissan Motor are down 1 to 3 percent.
Shares of Seven & I Holdings Inc. are trading lower, losing 2.6 percent, following the company revising down its earnings forecast for the year.
On the economic front, Japan will also see the preliminary August figures for its leading and coincident indexes, with forecasts suggesting scores of 93.5 and 93.6, respectively. That follows a leading index score of 93.0 in July and a coincident reading of 93.8.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid-78 yen level in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 78.54 to the dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia are trading higher. Markets in China are closed for National Day Holiday. Markets across the region had ended mostly higher on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher on Thursday, adding to the gains that were posted in the previous session, as traders reacted positively to the latest U.S. economic data.
The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, ending the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow rose 80.8 points or 0.6 percent to 13,575.4, the Nasdaq climbed 14.2 points or 0.5 percent to 3,149.5 and the S&P 500 advanced 10.4 points or 0.7 percent to 1,461.4.
Major European markets ended roughly flat on Thursday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index closed just above the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index edged down by 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil ended sharply higher on Thursday, rebounding from a four percent decline in the previous session. The recovery came on supply concerns from the Middle East after tensions between Turkey and Syria escalated.
Oil prices held on to the gains after minutes of the Federal Reserve's policy meet showed members agreed to a third round of quantitative easing last month, due to the uncertainty prevailing in the economy.
Crude for November delivery jumped $3.57 or 4.1 percent to close at $91.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com