CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are a seal of green on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid some respite in concerns about the ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said US President Donald Trump is 'optimistic' about reaching a trade deal with China. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.
'The president has made it very clear he's open to a deal with China,' Leavitt told reporters. 'If China continues to retaliate, it's not good for China.'
However, two senior White House officials told CNN that the U.S. will not reach out to China first and that Chinese President Xi Jinping must request a call with Trump.
Meanwhile, the European Union has announced that it is suspending its planned countermeasures to Trump's tariffs for 90 days.
The Australian stock market is sharply higher on Monday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving up well above the 7,700.00 level, with gains across all sectors led by mining and energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 101.70 points or 1.33 percent to 7,748.20, after touching a high of 7,748.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 104.30 points or 1.33 percent to 7,958.00. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Friday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 3 percent, Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 2 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is surging more than 5 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy is adding almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent, Xero is edging up 0.5 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 1 percent, while Appen is losing almost 2 percent and Zip is sliding more than 1 percent.
Gold miners are higher. Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.2 percent, Northern Star Resources is up more than 1 percent and Newmont is adding almost 4 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.
In other news, shares in DroneShield are soaring almost 15 percent after the drone defence company announced it had received a package of five separate contracts totalling $32.2 million.
Shares in Neuren Pharmaceuticals are also soaring more than 16 percent after its upcoming Phase 3 trial for NNZ-2591, a potential treatment for Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS), has received the green light from the US FDA to proceed as planned.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.630 on Monday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Monday, reversing some of the sharp losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 moving up 1.6 percent to above the 34,100 level, with gains across all sectors led by technology and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 34,115.52, up 529.94 points or 1.58 percent, after touching a high of 34,325.59 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 4 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing almost 3 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, Mizuho Financial is up more than 2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 3 percent.
The major exporters are higher. Panasonic and Canon are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.3 percent and Sony is adding 1.5 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Chugai Pharmaceutical and Alps Alpine are gaining almost 5 percent each, while TDK, Eisai, Kao and Sumco are adding more than 4 percent each. Shionogi & Co., Kyowa Kirin, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Nomura Research Institute, BayCurrent and Nitori Holdings are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Astellas Pharma and Sumitomo Metal Mining are up more than 3 percent each.
Conversely, Aeon is declining more than 5 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 142 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore are surging 2.1 percent each, while New Zealand, China, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.8 and 1.5 percent each.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Friday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside, partly offsetting the substantial pullback seen during Thursday's session.
The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, hovering firmly in positive territory. The Nasdaq shot up 337.14 points or 2.1 percent to 16,724.46, the S&P 500 surged 95.31 points or 1.8 percent to 5.363.36 and the Dow jumped 619.05 points or 1.6 percent to 40,212.71.
Meanwhile, the major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.9 percent.
Crude oil prices moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Friday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. West Texas Intermediate for May delivery surged $1.43 or to $61.50 a barrel, partly offsetting the $2.28 or 3.7 percent slump to $60.07 a barrel seen during Thursday's session.
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