(fxcue news) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the release of some weaker than expected U.S. private sector employment data. However, geopolitical concerns in the Middle East and Ukraine as well as the political chaos in South Korea and France continue to weigh on the markets. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday. US Fed Chair Jerome Powell also reiterated the central bank will take a cautious approach to cutting rates due to the continued strength of the economy. CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 75.5 percent chance the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by 25 basis points later this month. The Australian market is trading modestly higher on Thursday, recouping the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to just below the 8,500 level, with gains in gold miners, technology and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in iron miners and energy stocks. Optimism about a cut in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of Australia in early 2025 after third quarter GDP growth came in below forecasts, also aided market sentiment. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 21.20 points or 0.25 percent to 8,483.80, after touching a high of 8,494.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 24.20 points or 0.28 percent to 8,752.70. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Wednesday. Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are declining more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.2 percent and Mineral Resources is losing more than 2 percent. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Beach energy is edging up 0.5 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 6 percent, WiseTech Global is adding almost 3 percent and Xero is gaining almost 1 percent, while Appen is losing almost 3 percent and Zip is declining more than 1 percent. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are adding almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is edging up 0.2 percent. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is advancing more than 3 percent, Resolute Mining is adding almost 3 percent and Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.5 percent. Newmont is flat. In economic news, Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$5.953 billion in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. That beat expectations for a surplus of A$4.530 billion following the downwardly revised A$4.532 billion surplus in September (originally A$4.609 billion). Exports rose 3.6 percent on month to A$42.148 billion after falling a downwardly revised 4.7 percent in the previous month (originally -4.3 percent). Imports were up 0.1 percent on month to A$36.195 billion after dropping an upwardly revised 2.8 percent a month earlier (originally -3.1 percent). In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.643 on Thursday. Adding to the gains in the previous three sessions, the Japanese market is notably higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving up to just below the 38,500 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks, partially offset by weakness in automakers. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,488.51, up 212.12 points or 0.54 percent, after touching a high of 39,632.30 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly higher on Wednesday. Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining 1.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.2 percent and Honda is also edging down 0.2 percent. In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 3 percent and Screen Holdings is adding more than 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is flat. In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.3 percent each. Among the major exporters, Canon is gaining more than 2 percent and Sony is edging up 0.1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are adding more than 1 percent each. Among other major gainers, Kawasaki Heavy Industries is surging more than 5 percent and Keio is gaining almost 5 percent, while Sumitomo Electric Industries, Recruit Holdings and Ebara are adding almost 4 percent each. Fujikura, IHI and Casio Computer are more than 3 percent each, while Japan Exchange Group and Kuraray are up almost 3 percent each. Conversely, Daiichi Sankyo and Isetan Mitsukoshi are declining almost 3 percent each. In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 150 yen-range on Thursday. Elsewhere in Asia, China, Singapore and Taiwan are higher by between 0.2 and 0.9 percent each, while Hong Kong, South Korea and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. New Zealand and Malaysia are relatively flat. On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday following the lackluster performance seen in the previous session. The major averages all climbed to new record closing highs after ending mixed for two straight days. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, jumping by 254.21 points or 1.3 percent to 19,735.16. The Dow also advanced 308.51 points or 0.7 percent to 45,014.04, while the S&P 500 climbed 36.61 points or 0.6 percent to 6,086.49. Meanwhile, the major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and the German DAX Index jumped by 1.1 percent. Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday on geopolitical concerns in the Middle East and in the Russia/Ukraine conflict, as well as political chaos in South Korea and France. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed down $1.40 or 2 percent at $68.54 a barrel.