Asian Markets Showing Mixed Trend

Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with trading activity somewhat subdued ahead of Wednesday’s policy announcement from the US Federal Reserve and support from crude oil prices. The mood also remained cautious amid the coronavirus situation in the region. Asian stocks ended on a mixed note on Monday.

The Fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged but could announce plans to begin scaling back its asset purchase program. Investors are also looking for clues on the timing of its first interest rate hike since December 2018.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, giving up some of the modest gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,300 level, ignoring the positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with financials and materials sectors are dragging the market. Traders also remain cautious ahead to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy decision.

The domestic coronavirus situation also continues to dent investor sentiment, despite gradually opening up after the lockdowns. Victoria reported 989 new locally acquired cases and nine deaths on Monday, with the active cases totalling 19,409 across Victoria. NSW has reported only 173 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and four deaths.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 49.90 points or 0.68 percent to 7,320.90, after hitting a low of 7,311.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 49.80 points or 0.65 percent to 7,642.40. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is down more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.4 percent. OZ Minerals is edging up 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Santos and Woodside Petroleum are gaining almost 1 percent each. Oil Search is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is losing more than 2 percent and National Australia Bank is edging down 0.5 percent, while ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are declining almost 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Appen is edging up 0.5 percent, while Afterpay and WiseTech Global are adding more than 1 percent each. Xero is losing more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Resolute Mining is losing almost 2 percent, while Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are edging down 0.3 percent each. Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.4 percent and Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

Shares in Goodman Group are surging more than 6 percent after the property giant raised its earnings guidance for the full year.

Shares in Insurance Australia Group are slipping 6.5 percent after the insurer revealed wild weather related claims exceeded its budget yet again, forcing profit margins down.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged ta 0.10 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.752 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, giving up the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei index below the 29,600 level, ignoring the positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are anxious about Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s approach in addressing economic recovery from the pandemic and further fiscal stimulus measures.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 29,580.49, down 66.59 points or 0.22 percent, after hitting a low of 29,458.27 earlier. Japanese shares closed sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is adding almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are losing almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are edging down 0.5 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.4 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.3 percent each.

The major exporters are mixed. Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent. Canon is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Kyowa Kirin is plunging almost 7 percent and Hitachi Zosen is losing almost 6 percent, while Japan Exchange Group, Daiwa House Industry and Nippon Sheet Glass are down more than 4 percent each. NEC is slipping more than 3 percent, while NH Foods, Toho Zinc, Toyota Tsusho, JTEKT, KDDI and Tokyu Fudosan Holdings are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, TDK is surging almost 9 percent, Nexon is gaining almost 7 percent, Kyocera is adding more than 5 percent and Fujitsu is rising 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, South Korea is surging 1.6 percent and Hong Kong is gaining 0.9 percent, while Taiwan and Malaysia are up 0.1 and 0.5 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China and Indonesia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.4 percent each. Singapore is flat.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Monday but managed to end the session modestly higher. With the uptick on the day, the major averages all reached new record closing highs.

The major averages all finished the day in positive territory. The Dow rose 94.28 points or 0.3 percent to 35,913.84, the Nasdaq climbed 97.52 points or 0.6 percent to 15,595.92 and the S&P 500 edged up 8.29 points or 0.2 percent to 4,613.67.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday with traders weighing energy demand and supply levels and looking ahead to the upcoming OPEC meeting. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.48 or 0.6 percent at $84.05 a barrel.