Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders cautiously look ahead to the US Fed's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday after the central bank's preferred inflation gauge largely met expectations. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference may shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates.

Recent economic data has tamped down expectations of a near-term rate cut, with the central bank now seen as likely to leave rates unchanged until at least September.

Adding to the gains in the previous session, the Australian stock market is slightly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying above the 7,600 level, with gains in iron ore miners partially offset by weakness in energy stocks. Other sectors were mixed.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 18.20 points or 0.24 percent to 7,655.60, after touching a high of 7,658.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 19.00 points or 0.24 percent to 7,925.60. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.2 percent and BHP Group is advancing almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are adding almost 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is losing almost 1 percent and Beach energy is declining almost 2 percent, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Zip and Xero are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. Appen is losing almost 2 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Evolution Mining and Newmont are edging down 0.4 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.2 percent and Northern Star resources is gaining almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.1 to 2 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is flat.

In economic news, the total value of retail sales in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent on month in March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday - coming in at A$35.663 billion. That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.2 percent following the 0.3 percent gain in February. On a yearly basis, retail sales rose 0.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia said private sector credit in Australia was up 0.3 percent on month in March, missing forecasts for 0.4 percent and down from 0.5 percent in February. On a yearly basis, credit gained 5.1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Tuesday.

Adding to the gains in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is sharply higher in post-holiday trading on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 moving well above the 38,400 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by gains across most sectors led by exporters and index heavyweights.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,459.01, up 524.25 points or 1.38 percent, after touching a high of 38,608.17 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday ahead of the holiday on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 4 percent and Toyota is adding more than 3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 5 percent, while Tokyo Electron is adding almost 3 percent and Screen Holdings is also advancing almost 3 percent.

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

The major exporters are higher. Panasonic and Sony are adding almost 3 percent each, while Canon is gaining almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is skyrocketing almost 17 percent. Among the other major gainers, Mitsubishi Electric is skyrocketing almost 17 percent, Hitachi is soaring almost 13 percent, Komatsu is surging more than 10 percent, Tokuyama is rising more than 9 percent and Sumitomo is gaining more than 7 percent, while Sumitomo Pharma and Socionext are adding more than 6 percent each. Mazda Motor, IHI, Daiichi Sankyo, Toyota Tsusho and Chubu Electric Power are advancing almost 6 percent each, while Nissan Motor is up more than 5 percent. Nippon Yusen K.K. and Taisei are gaining almost 5 percent each.

Conversely, M3 is plummeting more than 9 percent, while Oriental Land and Nitto Denko are sliding more than 7 percent each. Seiko Epson is losing almost 4 percent, while CyberAgent and ANA Holdings are declining more than 3 percent each. TDK and Kikkoman are down almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the value of retail sales in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent on month in March, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry or METI said on Tuesday - coming in at 14.691 billion yen. On a yearly basis, sales were up 1.2 percent; in February, sales were up 1.7 percent on month and 4.7 percent on year. For the first quarter of 2024, sales were flat on quarter and up 2.6 percent on year at 40.753 billion yen.

The METI also said Industrial production in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 3.8 percent on month in March. That beat forecasts for an increase of 3.4 percent following the 0.6 percent decline in February. On a yearly basis, industrial output slumped 6.7 percent after sinking 3.9 percent in the previous month.

Upon the release of the data, the METI downgraded its assessment of industrial production, saying that it fluctuates indecisively but has weakened. According to the METI's forecast of industrial production, output is expected to rise 4.1 percent in April and 4.4 percent in May.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Japan was a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday. That was unchanged from the February reading, although it missed forecasts for 2.5 percent. The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.28, which exceeded expectations for 1.26 - which would have been unchanged from one month prior. The participation rate came in at 62.8 percent - in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 156 yen-range on Tuesday. The yen traded near its lowest level since 1990 against the dollar.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 1.0 percent each. New Zealand and Malaysia are relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks managed to see further upside during trading on Monday following the strong upward move seen last week. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the session but ended the day in positive territory.

The Dow rose 146.43 points or 0.4 percent to38389.09, the Nasdaq climbed 55.18 points or 0.4 percent to 15983.08 and the S&P 500 advanced 16.21 points or 0.3 percent to 5,116.17.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Monday amid worries about growth and outlook for oil demand and the rising possibility of the Federal Reserve delaying interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $1.22 or 1.45 percent at $82.63 a barrel.