Asian Markets Trading Mixed

Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, as traders kept an eye on the geopolitical developments in the Middle East and global bond yields. Global equities got a much needed boost from a drop in Treasury yields. The ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates continue to weigh on the markets. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

Recouping some of the losses in the previous three sessions, the Australian stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 6,800 level to rebound from 12-month lows, with gains in iron ore miners and technology stocks partially offset by losses in gold miners.

Traders now look ahead to domestic inflation data and Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michelle Bullock’s remarks later in the week.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 13.60 points or 0.20 percent to 6,857.70, after touching a high of 6,878.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 13.50 points or 0.19 percent to 7,043.50. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is adding almost 2 percent, while and Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is gaining more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging up 0.5 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent and Beach energy is declining more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Xero and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Appen is surging almost 5 percent and Zip is soaring more than 15 percent after the buy now pay later operator after reporting a 32 percent jump in first-quarter revenues. Afterpay owner Block is down almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star resources is losing almost 1 percent, Newcrest Mining is down more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is slipping 3.5 percent, while Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.4 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are all edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.636 on Tuesday.

Extending the losses in the previous three sessions, the Japanese stock market pared early gains to trade significantly lower on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 30,900 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 30,828.59, down 170.96 points or 0.55 percent, after hitting a low of 30,551.67 and a high of 31,210.26 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also up almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 2 percent and Toyota is declining more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging down 0.3 percent and Tokyo Electron is losing almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is slipping more than 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is declining almost 3 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Canon is losing 2.5 percent, Panasonic is down more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 2 percent and Sony is slipping almost 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Nidec is plunging almost 10 percent, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is slipping almost 6 percent and Sumitomo Pharma is losing more than 4 percent, while , while Nippon Yusen K.K., Chugai Pharmaceutical and Nippon Paper Industries are down almost 4 percent each. JGC Holdings, Resona Holdings, IHI, Fujikura, NTN, Chiba Bank, Kyowa Kirin and Sumitomo Electric Industries are declining more than 3 percent each. Kobe Steel is down almost 3 percent.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 149 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Korea and Malaysia are lower by between 0.3 and 0.6 percent each, while China, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks recovered from an initial move to the downside but gave back ground in the latter part of the trading session on Monday. The major averages eventually ended the day mixed, with the Dow and the S&P 500 falling to their lowest closing levels in over four months.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 34.52 points or 0.3 percent to 13,018.33, bouncing off a nearly five-month intraday low, the S&P 500 dipped 7.12 points or 0.2 percent to 4,217.04 and the Dow fell 190.87 points or 0.6 percent to 32,936.41.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index closed just above the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday amid easing concerns about oil supply on hopes the diplomatic efforts in the Middle East will help prevent the conflict there from escalating into a bigger regional war. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November settled at $85.49, down $2.59 or about 2.94 percent.

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