Asian Markets Mostly Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders seem cautious and reluctant to make significant moves amid data showing a slower than expected pace of economic growth in China in the second quarter, raising concerns about the outlook for global growth. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,300 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with losses in mining and energy stocks amid weaker commodity prices.

Traders also remain cautious ahead of the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s June monetary policy meeting minutes later in the day.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 27.70 points or 0.38 percent to 7,270.80, after hitting a low of 7,261.0 earlier1. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 26.20 points or 0.35 percent to 7,485.40. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.4 percent each.

Oil stocks are weak. Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent, while Santos, Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is advancing more than 3 percent, Xero is gaining almost 1 percent and Zip is adding more than 2 percent, while Appen and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are losing almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star resources is down more than 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.2 percent. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is up almost 1 percent, Westpac is adding 1.5 percent, ANZ Banking is gaining more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is advancing almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Ansell are plunging more than 15 percent after it flagged a large drop in fiscal 2024 earnings as it cuts production and staff.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.682 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 32,400 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight and boosted by with gains in exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 32,418.25, up 26.99 points or 0.08 percent, after touching a high of 32,714.59 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Friday prior to the holiday on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is flat and Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.4 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding almost 2 percent, while Screen Holdings is losing almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 2 percent.

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

Among the other major gainers, Renesas Electronics, Resona Holdings and OKUMA are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Rakuten Group is plunging more than 7 percent and CyberAgent is losing almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 138 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is down 1.7 percent, while New Zealand, China, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each. Malaysia is relatively flat.

On the Wall Street, stocks saw some further upside during trading on Monday following the strong upward move seen last week. With the continued advance, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reached their best closing levels in over a year.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 131.25 points or 0.9 percent to 14,244.95, the S&P 500 climbed 17.37 points or 0.4 percent to 4,522.79 and the Dow rose 76.32 points or 0.2 percent to 34,585.35.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled 1.1 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index declined by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil futures fell on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand after data showed the Chinese economy grew at slower than expected pace in the second quarter. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.27 or 1.7 percent at $74.15 a barrel.

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