Asian Markets Mostly Higher With Strong Gains

Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, as the US Federal Reserve officials quell concerns about inflation and fears of monetary tightening by central banks. The coronavirus infection rate in the region is keeping the underlying mood cautious. Asian stocks ended mixed on Monday.

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains of the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 just below the 7,100 level near 14-month highs, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street. The market is powered by gains for energy, materials, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 45.80 points or 0.65 percent to 7,091.70, after touching a high of 7,101.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 48.40 points or 0.67 percent to 7,324.40. Australian markets ended slightly higher on Monday.

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

Oil stocks are higher after crude oil prices climbed overnight. Oil Search is gaining more than 1 percent, Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent and Beach energy is up almost 3 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Santos are adding almost 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.3 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay is gaining almost 2 percent and Appen is adding more than 1 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are edging up 0.3 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower, with Resolute Mining losing almost 4 5 percent and Gold Road Resource down more than 2 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are edging down 0.3 percent each. Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.3 percent.

In other news, shares in TechnologyOne are surging more than 7 percent after the tech firm boosted first half interim on reporting a 48 percent growth in profit for the first half with revenue also increasing 5 percent to $144 million from last year.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.776 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains of the previous three sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei index above the 28,500 level, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street.

However, the upside is capped as the government is mulling tougher measures to contain the daily coronavirus case rate amid the fourth wave of infections driven by more contagious variants. Tokyo will decide this weekend on extending the COVID-19 state of emergency into June as the Olympic countdown begins. The country opened mass vaccination centers just two months before the Olympics.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 28,534.27, up 169.66 points or 0.60 percent, after touching a high of 28,576.97 earlier. Japanese shares closed slightly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is flat.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is up almost 2 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.2 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

The major exporters are mixed, with Sony gaining more than 1 percent, Panasonic adding more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric edging up 0.2 percent, while Canon is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Konami Holdings and Z Holdings are gaining 3.5 percent each, while Sharp and Toho are adding more than 3 percent each. NTN, Kobe Steel, Sumco and JFE Holdings are up almost 3 percent each, while Fujikura, Ebara, DeNA and Mitsui E&S Holdings are rising more than 2 percent each.

Conversely, Tosoh is losing more than 2 percent, while Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, NH Foods, T&D Holdings, NEXON and Ricoh are declining almost 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 108 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan and China are surging 1.5 percent each, while Hong Kong is adding 1.3 percent and Indonesia is rising 1 percent. South Korea and Singapore are gaining 0.7 and 0.5 percent, respectively. Malaysia is flat. New Zealand is bucking the trend and is down 0.5 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday following the mixed performance seen last week. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly strong advance.

The major averages gave back ground going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow climbed 186.14 points or 0.5 percent to 34,393.98, the Nasdaq surged up 190.18 points or 1.4 percent to 13,661.17 and the S&P 500 jumped 41.19 points or 1 percent to 4,197.05.

European stocks moved mostly higher in light trading, with several markets in the region closed for holidays. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil futures climbed higher on Monday as inconclusive nuclear deal negotiations with Iran and reports of a possible hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico supported prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July surged $2.47 or 3.9 percent at $66.05 a barrel.

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