Asian Markets Trade Mixed

Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, after s US President-elect Donald Trump announced a 10 percent additional tariff on all Chinese goods and a 25 percent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada, raising concerns over global trade tensions. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

Traders also seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead to the release of key U.S. economic data later in the week, including readings on consumer price inflation preferred by the US Fed.

Reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is retracting from all-time highs and falling below the 8,400 level, with weakness in financial and energy stocks amid tumbling crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 30.80 points or 0.37 percent to 8,386.80, after touching a high of 8,433.00 and a low of 8,372.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 21.00 points or 0.24 percent to 8,640.20. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent, while Rio Tinto, Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is declining almost 2 percent, Beach energy is slipping almost 3 percent and Santos is down more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining more than 3 percent, Appen is losing more than 2 percent and Xero is edging down 0.5 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent and Zip is edging up 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources is losing almost 1 percent, while Northern Star resources and Evolution Mining are declining almost 2 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent and Newmont is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 3 percent, ANZ Banking is slipping 1.5 percent, Westpac is down more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is declining almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in EML Payments are skyrocketing more than 23 percent after reporting an underlying earnings growth of 46 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.647 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, reversing the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling a tad below the 38,300 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,260.38, down 519.76 or 1.34 percent, after hitting a low of 38,020.08 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 5 percent, Screen Holdings is declining more than 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is slipping almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing 1.5 percent, Mizuho Financial is down more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining more than 2 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic is losing almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is declining almost 3 percent, Canon is down almost 1 percent and Sony is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among the other major losers, Fujikura is plunging more than 6 percent, Lasertec is losing more than 5 percent, while Furukawa Electric and Mercari are declining almost 5 percent each. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Sumco, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor, IHI and Disco are slipping more than 4 percent each, while Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are down almost 4 percent each. Mitsubishi and NTT Data Group are sliding more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Haseko, ZOZO, Kao, Toray Industries, Keisei Electric Railway and Sapporo Holdings are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 2.9 percent on year in October, the Bank of Japan said on Tuesday. That’s up from the upwardly revised 2.8 percent increase in September (originally 2.6 percent) and exceeded expectations for a gain of 2.5 percent.

On a monthly basis, producer prices jumped 0.8 percent after dipping 0.1 percent in the previous month. Excluding international transportation, producer prices rose 3.1 percent on year and 0.8 percent on month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 153 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are lower by between 0.4 and 1.2 percent each, while China, Hong Kong ,Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back some ground over the course of the trading day on Monday but managed to close mostly higher after showing a strong move to the upside early in the session. While the major averages pulled back off their best levels of the day, the Dow still reached a new record closing high.

The Dow closed higher for the fourth consecutive session, jumping 440.06 points or 1.0 percent to 44,736.57. The S&P 500 extended its winning streak to six sessions, climbing 18.03 points or 0.3 percent to 5,987.37, while the Nasdaq rose 51.18 points or 0.3 percent to 19,054.84.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday, weighed down by reports that Israel and Hezbollah are likely to reach a cease-fire agreement within the next few days. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $2.30 or 3.2 percent at $68.94 a barrel.