(fxcue news) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders react to a slew of domestic economic data from the region and they also look to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following pullback seen last week. Traders also remain optimistic of a further interest rate cut by the US Fed in December. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday. The Fed is widely expected to ease interest rates. The CME FedWatch tool is now showing the likelihood of a quarter-point Fed rate cut in December at 66 percent and the probability of a pause at 34 percent. The Australian stock market is currently trading modestly higher on Monday, reversing the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying well above the 8,400.00 level, with gains in iron ore miners and financial stocks were partially offset by weakness in gold miner stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 14.50 points or 0.17 percent to 8,450.70, after touching a high of 8,466.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 11.10 points or 0.13 percent to 8,710.20. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday. Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent, Fortescue Metals is adding more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 4 percent. Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.5 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Beach energy is flat. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing 1.5 percent, while Appen and Zip are down almost 1 percent each. Xero is edging up 0.5 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent. Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is down 1.5 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining more than 6 percent, Newmont is slipping almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is losing more than 4 percent, while Gold Road Resources is soaring more than 12 percent as it's the largest shareholder in De Grey, which agreed to be acquired by Northern Star Resources. Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are relatively flat. In other news, shares in De Grey are skyrocketing almost 29 percent after it agreed to a $5 billion acquisition deal from Northern Star Resources. In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to contract in November, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.4. That's up from 47.3 in October, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.650 on Monday. The Japanese stock market is slightly higher in choppy trading on Monday after opening in the green, reversing some of the losses in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 38,200 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset weakness in some index heavyweights as traders react to a slew of domestic economic data. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,220.01, up 11.98 or 0.03 percent, after touching a high of 38,365.01 and a low of 37,958.55 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Friday. Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is almost 4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is adding more than 1 percent. In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining almost 5 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent and Advantest is edging up 0.2 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 4 percent, Mizuho Financial is adding more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is up more than 1 percent. The major exporters are mixed. Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent and Sony is down almost 1 percent, while Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are edging up 0.2 percent each. Among other major losers, Shiseido is tumbling almost 8 percent, while Mercari, Oriental Land and Dai Nippon Printing are losing almost 3 percent each. Conversely, Dai-ichi Life is gaining more than 5 percent and Aozora Bank is adding more than 3 percent, while Seiko Epson, Kuraray, Fuji Electric, Kansai Electric Power, Hitachi and Resona Holdings are all advancing almost 3 percent each. In economic news, the value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on month in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - coming in at A$36.702 billion. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent following the 0.1 percent gain in September. On a yearly basis, retail sales were up 3.4 percent. The Australian Bureau of Statistics or ABS said the total number of building permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 4.2 percent on month in October, coming in at 15,498. That beat forecasts for a gain of 1.2 percent following the upwardly revised 5.8 percent increase in September (originally 4.4 percent). The ABS also said company operating profits in Australia were down a seasonally adjusted 4.6 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2024. That missed expectations for an increase of 0.6 percent following the downwardly revised 6.8 percent drop in the three months prior (originally -5.3 percent). Meanwhile, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed that the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in November, and at a faster pace, with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.0. That's down from 49.2 in October, and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The reduction was modest, yet the strongest seen since March. In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 150 yen-range on Monday. Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is up 1.82 percent, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each. On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside on Friday as trading resumed following the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday following the pullback seen during Wednesday's session. With the rebound, the major averages more than offset the previous session's losses, lifting the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs. The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow rose 188.59 points or 0.4 percent to 44,910.65, the Nasdaq advanced 157.69 points or 0.8 percent to 19,218.17 and the S&P 500 climbed 33.64 points or 0.6 percent to 6,032.38. The major European markets all also moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.1 percent. Crude oil prices settled lower on Friday after OPEC postponed its meeting to Dec. 5, despite expectations the group will delay production increases. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for January shed $0.72 or 1.1 percent at $68.00 a barrel. WTI crude futures lost 4.5 percent in the week.