CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are higher on Monday, extending gains from Friday, reflecting renewed optimism about the European Central Bank's new stimulus measures and on higher crude oil prices. Better than expected Japanese core machine orders data also boosted risk appetite.
The Australian market is advancing, following the rally on Wall Street Friday as well as on higher commodity prices. Banks and oil stocks are among the leading gainers.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 39.10 points or 0.76 percent to 5,205.50, off a high of 5,214.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 36.00 points or 0.69 percent to 5,260.80.
The big four banks - Westpac Banking, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking - are higher in a range of 1.2 percent to 2.3 percent.
In the oil sector, Oil Search is up 0.7 percent, Woodside Petroleum is adding 0.4 percent and Santos is higher by more than 3 percent after crude oil prices rose on Friday.
However, miners are mostly lower. BHP Billiton is adding more than 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is edging down 0.02 percent and Fortescue Metals is declining more than 1 percent.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining is lower by almost 4 percent and Evolution Mining is losing almost 6 percent after gold prices eased from 13-month highs on Friday.
Flight Centre Travel Group has expanded into continental
Europe
with its acquisition of Dutch corporate travel agency
Business Travel Development. Shares of the company are gaining almost 3 percent.
Scentre Group, owner of Westfield's Australian and
New Zealand
shopping centres, said that former RBA board member
Dick Warburton will not seek re-election at the annual general meeting in May and will step down as director.
Scentre's shares are down more than 1 percent.
Telstra has ended talks with food and beer giant San Miguel about investing in a proposed wireless joint venture in
the Philippines
.
Telstra's shares are rising more than 2 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is higher against the
U.S.
dollar on Monday, supported by stronger commodity prices. In early trades, the local unit was trading at
US$0.7544, up from
US$0.7487 on Friday.
The Japanese market is notably higher, with the gains on Wall Street, higher oil prices and better than expected Japanese machinery orders data boosting investor sentiment. The Bank of Japan will start its two-day monetary policy meeting on Monday.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 324.91 points or 1.92 percent to 17,263.78, off a high of 17,279.03 earlier.
Among the major exporters, Sony is rising almost 3 percent, Canon is up 1 percent and Toshiba is adding more than 1 percent, while Sharp is down almost 2 percent.
Automakers Toyota and Honda are advancing more than 1 percent each. In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 4 percent.
In the oil space, Inpex is rising more than 1 percent and refiner JX Holdings is up 0.6 percent.
Among the major gainers, Dai-ichi Life Insurance is gaining almost 9 percent, Pioneer Corp is adding 7 percent amd MS&AD Insurance is up almost 5 percent. Meanwhile, Nippon Kayaku is down almost 8 percent and Tokyo Dome Corp is losing almost 3 percent.
On the economic front, the Cabinet Office said that core machine orders in
Japan
surged 15.0 percent on month in January, coming in at
934.7 billion yen. The headline figure far exceeded forecasts for an increase of 1.9 percent following the downwardly revised 1.0 percent gain in December.
On a yearly basis, core machine orders spiked 8.4 percent, and also topped expectations for a decline of 3.8 percent following the 3.6 percent contraction in the previous month.
In the currency market, the
U.S.
dollar traded in the upper
113 yen-level on Monday, up slightly from Friday's close in
Tokyo
.
Elsewhere in
Asia
,
Shanghai
is gaining more than 2 percent, while
Hong Kong
and
Singapore
are up more than 1 percent each.
South Korea
,
New Zealand
,
Indonesia
,
Malaysia
and
Taiwan
are also in positive territory.
On Wall Street, stocks closed sharply higher on Friday on higher oil prices as well as on renewed optimism about the European Central Bank's new stimulus measures announced on Thursday.
The Dow surged up 218.18 points or 1.3 percent to 17,213.31, the Nasdaq soared 86.31 points or 1.9 percent to 4,748.47 and the S&P 500 spiked 32.62 points or 1.6 percent to 2,022.19.
The major European markets saw substantial strength on Friday. While the
U.K.'s
FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index soared by 3.3 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices continued to march higher Friday, extending strong weekly gains on signs of reduced output from the
U.S.
Crude for April delivery climbed
$0.66 or 1.7 percent to settle at
$38.50 a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange.
DISCLOSURE: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors, and do not represent the views of equities.com. Readers should not consider statements made by the author as formal recommendations and should consult their financial advisor before making any investment decisions. To read our full disclosure, please go to: http://www.equities.com/disclaimer
