Asian Markets Extend Rally

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are extending their rally in thin trading on Christmas Eve, buoyed by the positive cues overnight from Wall Street for a third straight session and the jump in crude oil prices. The markets in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore will close early today.

The Australian market rose for the seventh straight session, with investor sentiment bolstered by the overnight rally on Wall Street and the sharp rebound in the price of crude oil.

In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index is advancing 55.30 points or 1.08 percent to 5,197.10, off a high of 5,206.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 52.10 points or 1.00 percent to 5,245.60.

In the mining sector, BHP Billiton is gaining more than 4 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are rising almost 4 percent each despite lower iron ore prices overnight.

Gold miner Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are both rising almost 2 percent each even as gold prices inched lower for the second straight session overnight.

Among oil stocks, Woodside Petroleum and Santos are gaining almost 3 percent each, while Oil Search is rising almost 4 percent.

In the banking space, ANZ Banking, Westpac, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are higher in range of 1.3 percent to 1.6 percent.

Utility AGL Energy announced a long term gas supply gas deal with the Gladstone LNG project in Queensland. Shares of the company are advancing 1.6 percent.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar is flat against the U.S. dollar in quiet trade ahead of the Christmas holiday. In early trades, the local unit was trading at $0.7241, level with its close on Wednesday.

The Japanese market, which was closed on Wednesday for a public holiday, is advancing following the overnight gains on Wall Street.

In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is rising 95.69 points or 0.51 percent to 18,982.39, off a high of 19,071.41 earlier.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is adding 0.5 percent, Casio Computer is edging up 0.07 percent, Sharp Corp is advancing almost 1 percent and Canon is rising 0.9 percent.

Market heavyweight Fast Retailing is adding 0.5 percent and SoftBank is advancing almost 1 percent. Automaker Toyota is up 0.1 percent.

In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is rising 0.7 percent, Mizuho Financial Group is up 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is rising 1.4 percent.

Inpex is gaining more than 3 percent and JX Holdings is advancing more than 2 percent following the jump in crude oil prices.

Meanwhile, shares of Takata Corp. are losing more than 4 percent after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said an exploding Takata airbag was connected to an eighth death in the U.S.

The Nikkei business daily reported that Jupiter Telecommunications or J:COM will acquire TV shopping network Jupiter Shop Channel in a deal worth more than 100 billion yen. Trading house Sumitomo and telecom group KDDI each own half of J:COM. Sumitomo Corp's shares are up 2.6 percent and KDDI Corp. is down 0.5 percent.

Among the other major gainers, JFE Holdings is rising more than 3 percent, Furukawa is advancing almost 3 percent and Nippon Suisan Kaisha is up 2.5 percent.

On the economic front, members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy meeting noted the country's economic recovery continued at a satisfactory pace, minutes from the central bank's November 18-19 meeting revealed on Thursday. The board said that weakness from commodity-exporting economies continue to be the primary downside risk.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded slightly below the 121 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are up with modest gains, while Shanghai is marginally lower. The markets in Malaysia and Indonesia are closed on Thursday in observance of the birth of Prophet Mohammad.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied on Wednesday, partly due to an increase in the price of crude oil. Traders were also reacting to a slew of U.S. economic data, including a report from the Commerce Department showing that new home sales increased for the second consecutive month in November.

The Dow jumped 185.34 points or 1.1 percent to 17,602.61, the Nasdaq advanced 44.82 points or 0.9 percent to 5,045.93 and the S&P 500 surged up 25.32 points or 1.2 percent to 2,064.29.

The major European markets showed substantial moves to the upside on Wednesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index soared by 2.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both jumped by 2.3 percent.

Crude oil futures rallied Wednesday after a surprising drop in U.S. oil inventories. WTI crude for February delivery jumped $1.36 or 3.8 percent to close at $37.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.