FX.co ★ Asian Markets Trade Higher In Thin Holiday Trades

Most Asian stock markets are experiencing an upturn in an environment of light trading due to the Good Friday holiday. This follows a varied response from Wall Street, as investors were cautious to make substantial moves before the unveiling of US inflation data which could influence the prospective interest rates. Asian markets had a similar mix of results the previous Thursday.

Investors are also anticipating comments from US Fed Chair Jerome Powell later in the day, preceding the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Macro-economics and Monetary Policy Conference.

Trading was suspended in the Australian stock market for Good Friday. Australian markets had a strong performance the preceding Thursday. The Australian dollar is currently trading at $0.652.

After making up for some losses sustained in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is showing notable growth, again following the mixed cues from Wall Street. The benchmark Nikkei 225 has climbed above the 40,400 mark, led by gains across most sectors such as index heavyweights, exporters and financial stocks. Mixed domestic economic data also had an impact on the market.

SoftBank Group, a major player, is slightly down by 0.1 percent, whereas Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing has increased more than 1 percent. Among car makers, Honda is up nearly 2 percent while Toyota is slightly down by 0.1 percent.

In the technology sector, Advantest and Screen Holdings have each risen almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron has increased 0.5 percent.

Within the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial has grown more than 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is up 0.4 percent and Mizuho Financial has gained almost 1 percent.

Among key exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is down more than 1 percent whereas Canon, Sony and Panasonic have each increased about 1 percent.

Other notable gainers include Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which is up more than 4 percent, Mitsui Fudosan and Sumitomo Realty & Development, which are both up almost 4 percent.

In economic news, Japan's total retail sales value in February expanded by 4.6 percent, compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). This surpassed expectations for a 2.8 percent increase.

However, METI also stated that February's industrial output declined by 0.1 percent month-on-month. This fell well short of the 1.2 percent increase that was forecast, following a sharp contraction in January. METI consequently revised its evaluation of the industrial production sector, stating that it continues to fluctuate without clear direction and has weakened.

The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in February, exceeding the forecasted 2.4 percent.

In China, Malaysia and Taiwan, markets are up between 0.3 and 0.6 percent. While South Korea remains flat, markets in New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia are indeed closed for Good Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks have shown uncertainty, despite the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs. Eventually ending the session narrowly mixed, the Nasdaq dipped by 20.06 points (or 0.1 percent) to 16,379.46, while the Dow rose slightly by 47.29 points (or 0.1 percent) to 39,807.37 and the S&P 500 climbed 5.86 points (or 0.1 percent) to 5,254.35.The major European markets saw a slight increase recently. The FTSE 100 Index in the U.K. increased by 0.3 percent, while the German DAX Index nudged up by 0.1 percent. The French CAC 40 Index also ended slightly above the previous close.

There was a noticeable rally in crude oil futures as well. This was due to the expected decrease in supply as a result of OPEC production cuts and continuous strikes on Russian oil facilities by Ukraine. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude oil futures for May saw a significant rise of $1.82 or 2.2 percent, landing at $83.17 a barrel. The WTI futures went up 3.15 percent over the course of the week.