Asia Trades Mixed; U.S. Futures Flat

The S&P/ASX and the PSE Composite indices were posting gains in Asia, while the rest of the market was trading below the break-even line.

Among the decliners, investors can observe the Hang Seng in Hong Kong, the Kospi in South Korea and the Straits Times indices. At the same time, S&P 500 futures shed some points during the Asian session, but is approaching the break-even line once again.

The Australian S&P/ASX index surged as commodity prices advanced during the last trading sessions. The commodity sector has an impressive weight in the S&P/ASX index and it usually has the power to move around the market.

Sector Moves: The rise in the S&P/ASX index is being led by commodity producers as oil and metal prices increased. Australia's second largest oil and gas producer, Woodside Petroleum, has increased over 4% in price. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto(RTP Quote), the third largest mining company, has gained 1.8%.

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Economic Moves: During the Asian session, a report showed that the New Zealand economy has unexpectedly emerged from its worst recession in the past 30 years. The economy was shown to be expanding after consumer spending and exports increased. The gross domestic product increased 0.1% in the second quarter. The market is preparing for a very busy European session, loaded with top tier reports and for the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee interest rate meeting during the U.S. session.

Japanese markets were closed for a five-day bank holiday this week. The Australian S&P/ASX advanced 70.20 points, or 1.5%, to 4,733.90.