Asian Markets Mostly Higher On Global Cues

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with upbeat earnings news continuing to contribute to the recent upward trend, as most companies have reported better than expected results. The mood also remained cautious amid the coronavirus situation in the region. Asian stocks ended on a mixed note on Monday.

Some traders may also have been reluctant to make big moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week. The Fed is likely to leave interest rates unchanged but could announce plans to begin scaling back its asset purchase program.

The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Tuesday, extending the modest gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 just below the 7,500 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with some strength in technology and energy stocks.

However, the domestic coronavirus situation continues to dent investor sentiment, despite Victoria and New South Wales slowly opening up after the lockdowns. Victoria reported 1,510 new locally acquired cases and four deaths on Monday, with the active cases totalling 24,715 across Victoria. NSW has reported only 282 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and one death.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 10.60 points or 0.14 percent to 7,451.60, after touching a high of 7,471.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 13.80 points or 0.18 percent to 7,768.10. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.5 percent and OZ Minerals is edging up 0.2 percent, while Mineral Resources is losing more than 7 percent, Rio Tinto is declining almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is down 1.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Santos is edging up 0.3 percent and Beach energy is adding more than 1 percent. Woodside Petroleum is flat. Oil Search is edging up 0.2 percent after reporting a 12 percent increase in quarterly sales revenue amid higher commodity prices.

Among the big four banks, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.4 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is flat.

Among tech stocks, Appen is gaining almost 2 percent and Afterpay is adding almost 3 percent, while WiseTech Global is losing more than 2 percent. Xero is flat.

Gold miners are mixed. Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.2 percent. Evolution Mining is flat. Gold Road Resources has gone into a trading halt.

Shares in Crown Resorts are surging more than 9 percent after the Royal Commission given it a 2-year grace period to hold its Melbourne casino license and improve operations. Peer Star Entertainment is also up more than 6 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.750 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply higher on Tuesday, recouping the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei index up 500 points to break back above the 29,000 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight amid upbeat earnings news from several big-name U.S. companies, even as investors remain cautious ahead of the looming general elections this weekend.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 29,100.57, up 500.16 points or 1.75 percent, after touching a high of 29,145.93 earlier. Japanese shares closed notably lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 2 percent and Toyota is adding more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is up almost 4 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.3 percent and Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.5 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is flat.

The major exporters are mixed. Mitsubishi Electric is gaining 1.5 percent, Panasonic is adding almost 5 percent and Sony is up more than 2 percent, while Canon is losing more than 3 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone and Yokogawa Electric are gaining almost 6 percent each, while Nexon is adding almost 5 percent. JGC Holdings, Z Holdings, Japan Steel Works, Okuma and TDK are up almost 4 percent each, while Toho Zinc, Mitsui E&S Holdings and Japan Post Holdings are higher by more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Nikon is losing more than 5 percent and Seiko Epson is down more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 113 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Taiwan, China and South Korea are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each, while Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.2 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, extending the notable advance seen last week. With the continued upward move, the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.

The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts. While the Nasdaq jumped 136.51 points or 0.9 percent to 15,226.71, the S&P 500 rose 21.58 points or 0.5 percent to 4,566.48 and the Dow edged up 64.13 points or 0.2 percent to 35,741.15.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.3 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index climbed 0.4 percent.

Crude oil futures settled flat on Monday as prices fell sharply from the day’s high towards the end of the session, with traders weighing supply and demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude for December ended unchanged at $83.76 a barrel after peaking at $85.41 a barrel, a seven-year high earlier in the day.

Market Analysis