(fxcue news) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain optimistic about more interest rate cuts by the US Fed, and several other central banks. The minutes from the US Fed's September meeting showed officials agreed to cut interest rates, but were unsure how aggressive to get. Asian Markets closed mixed on Wednesday. Traders now look ahead to the release of US consumer price and producer price inflation data for more clarity on how aggressively the Fed will lower rates in the coming months. New York Fed President John Williams said on Tuesday that it will be appropriate again for the central bank to reduce rates 'over time.' Separately, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said there is a case for more easing if inflation keeps easing. The Australian market is trading notably higher on Thursday, extending the slight gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,200 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining, energy and technology stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 44.10 points or 0.54 percent to 8,231.50, after touching a high of 8,242.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 48.10 points or 0.57 percent to 8,504.90. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday. Among major miners, Fortescue Metals is adding almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 3 percent, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 2 percent, Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Santos is edging up 0.5 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Appen is surging more than 7 percent and Zip is advancing 3.5 percent. WiseTech Global is edging down 0.1 percent. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is gaining more than 1 percent. National Australia Bank is flat. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Resolute Mining is gaining 2.5 percent and Northern Star Resources is up almost 1 percent. Newmont is losing almost 1 percent. In other news, shares in Arcadium Lithium are skyrocketing 31 percent after Rio Tinto agreed to buy it in a $9.9 billion deal. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.673 on Thursday. Adding to the gains in the previous session, the Japanese market is modestly higher on Thursday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving to near the 39,400 level, with gains in index heavyweights and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,395.05, up 117.09 points or 0.30 percent, after touching a high of 39,616.59 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Wednesday. Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent and Honda is also adding almost 1 percent. In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing almost 1 percent, while Advantest and Screen Holdings are declining more than 1 percent each. In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 2 percent. Among the major exporters, Canon is adding almost 1 percent, Sony is edging up 0.1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 2 percent, while Panasonic is edging down 0.4 percent. Among other major gainers, Nikon is gaining more than 3 percent. Conversely, Aeon is plummeting more than 9 percent, Kawasaki Heavy Industries is declining almost 5 percent and Fujikura is losing more than 3 percent. In economic news, producer prices in Japan were unchanged in September, the Bank of Japan or BoJ said on Thursday - versus expectations for a decline of 0.3 percent following the 0.2 percent drop in August. On a yearly basis, producer prices rose 2.8 percent - exceeding forecasts for an increase of 2.3 percent and up from 2.6 percent in the previous month. Export prices fell 0.4 percent on month and rose 0.5 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices slumped 1.3 percent on month and 0.4 percent on year. The foreign exchange rate slumped 2.0 percent on month. The BoJ also said the value of overall bank lending in Japan was up 2.7 percent on year in September, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday - coming in at 624.24 trillion yen. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 2.9 percent and down from 3.0 percent in August. For the third quarter of 2024, overall lending was up 3.0 percent on year, lending excluding trusts rose 3.3 percent and lending from trusts was up 0.6 percent. In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Thursday. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 2.5 percent, while New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia are higher by between 0.3 and 0.4 percent each. China and Indonesia are down 0.3 and 0.1 percent, respectively. Taiwan is closed for National Day holiday. On Wall Street, stocks started off on a somewhat flat note on Wednesday, but gained in strength as the day progressed, as investors assessed the minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting, and looked ahead to the nation's consumer price and producer price inflation data for more clarity on interest-rate trajectory. The major averages all closed on a buoyant note, with the Dow and S&P 500 moving on to fresh record highs. The Dow ended with a gain of 431.63 points or 1.03 percent at 42,512.00, the S&P 500 closed up 40.91 points or 0.71 percent at 5,792.04 and the Nasdaq settled higher by 108.70 points or 0.6 percent to 18,291.62. The major European markets also ended the day higher on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended higher by 0.65 percent, Germany's DAX gained 0.99 percent and France's CAC 40 ended 0.52 percent up. Crude oil prices fell Wednesday after data showed a big jump in crude inventories which outweighed possible supply disruptions due to Hurricane Milton and Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November fell $0.33 or 0.45 percent at $73.24 a barrel.