Asian Markets Show Mixed Trend

Asian stock markets are trading mostly mixed on Tuesday, following the negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine triggered a sell-off in global equities, even though crude oil prices is limiting the downside. A surge in global oil prices also exacerbated concerns about inflation and aggressive monetary policy tightening in the U.S. and elsewhere. Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Monday.

The United States said an attack by Russia on Ukraine is imminent and added that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time. Russia has reportedly lined up thousands of troops near Ukraine’s borders. However, Moscow has denied the reports and has accused the West of hysteria.

The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday, giving up the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,200 mark, following the negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in materials, energy and financial stocks. The rising geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine is weighing on market sentiment.

Meanwhile, concerns over the domestic COVID-19 cases have softened as the daily new cases are on a steady decline. New South Wales reported 8,201 new cases and 16 deaths on Monday and Victoria also reported 8,162 new cases and 20 deaths. Queensland recorded 5,286 new cases and 10 deaths, South Australia reported 1,138 new cases and Tasmania reported 513 new cases.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 12.20 points or 0.17 percent to 7,231.70, after hitting a low of 7,198.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 17.30 points or 0.23 percent to 7,517.80. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 2 percent, Fortescue Metals is slipping 2.5 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 4 percent, while OZ Minerals is edging up 0.2 percent and BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent after reporting strong first half results on strong commodity prices and announcing an interim dividend.

Oil stocks are lower. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent, Woodside Petroleum is declining almost 2 percent, Santos is slipping 2.5 percent and Beach energy is plunging almost 8 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is losing almost 2 percent, ANZ Banking is down almost 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.3 percent. National Australia Bank is flat.

Among tech stocks, Zip and Xero are edging down 0.4 percent each, while Block is gaining more than 4 percent. Appen and WiseTech Global are flat.

Gold miners are mixed. Resolute Mining is losing almost 3 percent and Evolution Mining is edging down 0.5 percent, while Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.3 percent. Gold Road Resources and Newcrest Mining are flat.

In other news, shares in Sims Ltd are soaring almost 17 percent after the scrap metal merchant reported strong results for the first half that beat market expectations, driven by growth in trading margin. Sims also more than tripled its dividend.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on February 1. At the meeting, the RBA decided to discontinue the bond purchase program and left its key rate unchanged at a record low of 0.10 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.714 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, extending the sharp losses in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei index falling below the 27,000 mark, following the negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious and continue to track the rising geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine.

Traders also remain concerned about the domestic coronavirus cases, though the daily new cases are on a steady decline from the weekend. At present, quasi-emergencies are set to expire in 21 prefectures on Sunday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,006.66, down 72.93 points or 0.27 percent, after hitting a low of 26,933.87 earlier. Japanese shares closed sharply lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.3 percent, while Toyota is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.5 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are losing almost 1 percent each. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing more than 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.2 percent and Mizuho Financial is down almost 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic is edging up 0.4 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are adding almost 1 percent each. Sony is down almost 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Recruit Holdings is plunging almost 13 percent and Kubota is slipping almost 11 percent, while MS&AD Insurance Group and Japan Post Holdings are losing almost 4 percent each. Dai-ichi Life and Sompo Holdings are declining more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Nippon Express Holdings is soaring more than 8 percent and Dentsu Group is surging more than 5 percent, while Tokyo Tatemono, Kirin Holdings, Nikon and Toho Zinc are rising more than 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 115 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and South Korea are lower by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each, while China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.6 percent each. Singapore is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Monday before ending the day mostly lower. With the continued decrease on the day, the major averages extended the sell-off seen last Thursday and Friday.

The major averages all closed in negative territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged down just 0.24 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 13,709.92. The Dow fell 171.89 points or 0.5 percent to 34,566.17 and the S&P 500 dropped 16.97 points or 0.4 percent at 4,401.67.

The major European markets also showed notable moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index dove by 2 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday on rising concerns that Russia could attack Ukraine in the near future. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $2.36 or 2.5 percent at $95.46 a barrel, the highest settlement since September 2014.

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