Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders react positively the China’s Politburo decision to further support its ailing property sector with an economic stimulus. They also look ahead to the US Fed’s interest-rate decision due on Wednesday, followed by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

With the Fed widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis point, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

The Australian stock market is notably higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in mining and energy stocks amid a spike in commodity prices.

Traders also cautiously awaited domestic inflation data on Wednesday for clues on the outlook for domestic interest rates, as well as the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision later that day.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 32.80 points or 0.45 percent to 7,339.20, after touching a high of 7,340.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 36.70 points or 0.49 percent to 7,554.00. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are gaining almost 3 percent each, while Mineral Resources is adding almost 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 4 percent.

Oil stocks are higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent and Beach energy is adding more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.2 percent, while Xero is losing almost 1 percent. Zip and Appen are flat.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources, Newcrest Mining and Northern Star resources are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Resolute Mining is losing almost 3 percent. Evolution Mining is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.4 percent each, while Westpac is losing almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Core Lithium continue to plunge after the release of its activity report on Monday that showed output levels came in below expectations due to inclement weather.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.674 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 staying above the 32,600 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders booked some profits ahead of the Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting this week.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 32,605.97, down 94.97 points or 0.29 percent, after hitting a low of 32,561.09 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.5 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are adding more than 1 percent each.

The major exporters are mixed. Canon and Sony are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.4 percent. Panasonic is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among the other major losers, Nidec is losing more than3 percent and NEXON is down almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Mitsubishi Motors is surging more than 6 percent, Nissan Motor is gaining more than 4 percent, Inpex is advancing almost 4 percent and Yaskawa Electric is up more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 141 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is surging 3.5 percent and China is up 1.7 percent, while Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.2 and 0.9 percent each. New Zealand is bucking the trend and is down 0.8 percent.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday after ending last Friday’s trading narrowly mixed. The major averages all moved to the upside, with the Dow once again reaching its best closing level in well over a year.

The major averages gave back some ground going into the close but remained in positive territory. The Dow climbed 183.55 points or 0.5 percent to 35,411.24, the Nasdaq edged up 26.06 points or 0.2 percent to 14,058.87 and the S&P 500 rose 18.30 points or 0.4 percent to 4,554.64.

Meanwhile, the major European markets finished the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Monday, buoyed by increased demand for gasoline and export cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.67 or 2.2 percent at $78.74 a barrel.

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