Shutterstock photo(RTTNews.com) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Friday, though gains are modest in most markets as investors looked ahead to speeches from key central bankers later today at their annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Fed Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi are both scheduled to speak at the conference later in the day.
The Australian market is declining following the modest losses overnight on Wall Street and as investors remained cautious ahead of speeches from key central bankers later today.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is declining 16.10 points or 0.28 percent to 5,729.40, off a low of 5,721.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 12.60 points or 0.22 percent to 5,789.10.
Gold miners are weak after gold prices slipped lower overnight. Newcrest Mining is down 0.5 percent and Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent.
The big four banks - ANZ Banking, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank - are also lower in a range of 0.4 percent to 1.1 percent.
Oil stocks are advancing despite the 2 percent fall in crude oil prices overnight. Santos is gaining more than 4 percent, Oil Search is rising almost 2 percent and Woodside Petroleum is adding 0.5 percent.
Select Harvests' full-year profit fell 73 percent on lower-than-expected crop prices and higher costs. However, the almond grower's shares are adding 0.5 percent.
Bellamy's Australia reported a loss for the full-year, but expects profitable growth next year for its core business. The troubled infant formula maker's shares are losing almost 5 percent.
Qantas Airways reported a 17 percent decline in full-year profit and announced a A$373 million share buyback. The airline's shares are adding almost 1 percent.
Shares of Medibank Private are rising more than 7 percent after the health insurer reported a nearly 8 percent increase in its full-year profit.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar crept above the US$0.79 dollar level on Friday. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7904, up from US$0.7871 on Thursday.
The Japanese market is modestly higher after data showed that core consumer prices rose for the seventh straight month in July and as investors awaited comments from the central bankers' meeting.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 66.73 points or 0.34 percent to 19,420.50, off a high of 19,443.69 earlier.
Among the major exporters, Sony is advancing almost 1 percent and Canon is adding 0.2 percent, while Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are edging down less than 0.1 percent each.
Among automakers, Toyota is up almost 1 percent and Honda is adding 0.5 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is rising 0.4 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 1 percent.
In the oil space, Inpex is up 0.4 percent and Japan Petroleum Exploration is advancing almost 1 percent despite the fall in crude oil prices.
Among the other major gainers, Tokuyama Corp. is gaining almost 5 percent, FamilyMart UNY Holdings is rising more than 4 percent and Yamata Holdings is up 4 percent.
On the flip side, Toho Zinc and Yaskawa Electric are declining almost 2 percent each.
In economic news, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said that overall consumer prices in Japan advanced 0.4 percent on year in July, in line with expectations and unchanged from the June reading. Core inflation, which excludes food prices, advanced an annual 0.5 percent - again unchanged and matching forecasts.
The Bank of Japan said that producer prices were up 0.6 percent on year in July. That was beneath expectations for 0.8 percent and down from the downwardly revised 0.7 percent gain in June.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 109 yen-range on Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, New Zealand, Shanghai, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are also higher, while Singapore and Malaysia are lower.
On Wall Street, stocks closed modestly lower on Thursday in choppy trading as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which gets underway later today. Fed Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi are both scheduled to speak at the conference on Friday.
The Dow slipped 28.69 points or 0.1 percent to 21,783.40, the Nasdaq edged down 7.08 points or 0.1 percent to 6,271.33 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.07 points or 0.2 percent to 2,438.97.
The major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. While the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil prices fell Thursday after US Gulf Coast refineries shut operations as Tropical Storm Harvey was forecast to turn into a major hurricane. WTI oil declined $0.98 or 2 percent to $47.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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