Asian Markets Trading Mostly Higher

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, riding on the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with technology and financial stocks leading the way higher as hopes about a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine helped offset concerns about inflation and imminent monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

Russia and Ukraine are set to resume diplomatic talks in Turkey later on Tuesday. Russia has reportedly signaled that it may scale down its war and aims to concerntrate on eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine President Zelenskyy also said he wants to make a deal with Moscow over Sonbas and he is willing to discuss adopting a neutral status too.

However, worries continued to linger about the situation in Ukraine following a statement from Ukrainian defence ministry spokesperson Oleksander Motuzyanuk that there are no signs of Russia giving up a plan to surround the capital Kyiv.

News about a surge in coronavirus in China, and Shanghai’s decision to impose fresh lockdown measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections weighed a bit on sentiment. Oil prices also tumbled amid concerns about outlook for energy demand after Shanghai imposed fresh lockdown restrictions in the country to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections.

The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous five sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just below the 7,500 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, fueled largely by technology and financial stocks, partially offset by weakness in energy stocks amid the plunge in crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 58.50 points or 0.79 percent to 7,470.90, after touching a high of 7,480.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 63.60 points or 0.83 percent to 7,752.90. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and OZ Minerals are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Rio Tinto is slipping almost 1 percent. Mineral Resources is edging up 0.4 percent and Fortescue Metals is flat

Oil stocks are lower, with Beach energy losing more than 2 percent, Woodside Petroleum declining more than 1 percent, Santos slipping almost 1 percent and Origin Energy edging down 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Appen is surging more than 5 percent, WiseTech Global is up almost 5 percent, Block is soaring almost 7 percent, Zip is advancing almost 6 percent and Xero is gaining more than 3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is down more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is slipping 1.5 percent and Newcrest Mining is losing almost 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac is adding more than 1 percent. ANZ Banking is flat.

In other news, shares in Crown Resorts are up more than 1 percent after private equity giant Blackstone received Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) clearance to buy the troubled James Packer-backed casino group for $8.9 billion, which was agreed to last month.

In economic news, the total value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 1.8 percent on month in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday – coming in at A$33.085 billion. That beat expectations for an increase of 1.0 percent following the downwardly revised 1.6 percent increase in January (originally 1.8 percent). On a yearly basis, retail sales climbed 9.1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.749 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, recouping the loss in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 28,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, and as the Japanese government revealed plans to craft a new economic package by the end of April to ease the pain of yen’s recent weakness.

Traders continue to monitor developments surrounding the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, with hopes of peace talks that will resume today leading to a diplomatic solution.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 28,110.73, up 166.84 points or 0.60 percent, after touching a high of 28,227.53 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Monday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are adding almost 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.4 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.3 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher, with Panasonic, Sony and Canon gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric adding almost 1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, M3 and Chubu Electric Power is gaining more than 5 percent each, while Seven & I Holdings and CyberAgent are adding almost 4 percent each. Yamaha Motor is up more than 3 percent, while Alps Alpine and Japan Steel Works are rising almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Nippon Light Metal Holdings is losing almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the jobless rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent in March, the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs said on Tuesday. That was beneath expectations for 2.8 percent, which would have been unchanged from the January reading. The job-to-applicant ration was 1.21, which beat forecasts for 1.20 – which was the same as the previous month. The participation rate was 61.8 percent, exceeding estimates for 61.7 percent, which would have been unchanged.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 123 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. Malaysia and Indonesia are down 1.6 and 0.1 percent, respectively. New Zealand is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks ended on a positive note on Monday thanks to some strong buying in the final hour as hopes about a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine helped offset concerns about inflation and imminent monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve.

The major averages all ended higher, with the tech-laden Nasdaq outperforming with a sharp uptick. The Dow, which slipped to 34,552.23 around noon, losing more than 300 points in the process, ended the session with a gain of 94.65 points or 0.27 percent at 34,955.89.

The S&P 500 settled with a gain of 32.46 points or 0.71 percent at 4,575.52, nearly 60 points off the session’s low of 4,517.69. The Nasdaq, which saw a brief spell in negative territory around noon, ended stronger by 185.60 points or 1.31 percent at 14,354.90.

Meanwhile, the major European markets pared gains towards the later part of the session after a strong spell in positive territory following a steady start Monday morning. Germany’s DAX gained 0.78 percent and France’s CAC 40 settled with a gain of 0.54 percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended down 0.14 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday amid concerns about outlook for energy demand from the world’s largest oil importer after Shanghai announced fresh lockdowns to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections in the country. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended down by $7.94 or 7 percent at $105.96 a barrel.

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