Sensex, Nifty Modestly Higher, Metal Stocks Tumble

Indian shares are seen opening a tad higher on Tuesday after two straight sessions of losses.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling to remain a tad above the 38,100 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks. Financial stocks were the only bright spot.

The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Tuesday after opening in the green and briefly slipping into the red, extending the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is the 8,400 level, with gains in iron ore miners and financial stocks partially offset by losses in gold miners, energy and technology stocks.

The Thai stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had improved more than 20 points or 1.6 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,340-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the way lower. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit. The SET finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the consumer, property, resource, service and technology sectors were mitigated by support from the food, financial and industrial companies. For the day, the index dropped 13.13 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 1,340.94 after trading between 1,340.54 and 1,354.74. Volume was 6.938 billion shares worth 30.721 billion baht. There were 305 decliners and 174 gainers, with 187 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Thailand Airport tumbled 1.33 percent, while Asset World retreated 1.28 percent, Banpu added 0.94 percent, Bangkok Bank advanced 0.98 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical skidded 0.85 percent, Bangkok Expressway spiked 2.26 percent, B. Grimm declined 1.27 percent, BTS Group increased 0.81 percent, CP All Public gained 0.45 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods soared 3.60 percent, Energy Absolute skyrocketed 12.93 percent, Gulf stumbled 1.65 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.32 percent, Krung Thai Bank rallied 2.21 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.49 percent, PTT Oil & Retail sank 0.86 percent, PTT Exploration and Production lost 0.82 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 0.89 percent, Siam Commercial Bank improved 0.81 percent, Siam Concrete slumped 0.96 percent, TTB Bank climbed 1.07 percent and SCG Packaging, Advanced Info, True Corporation, PTT and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, advancing almost 500 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng now sits just beneath the 20,200-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the way lower. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit. The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies. For the day, the index improved 131.58 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 20,197.77 after trading between 20,118.02 and 20,296.94. Among the actives, Alibaba Group and ENN Energy Holdings both soared 2.95 percent, while Alibaba Health Info advanced 1.17 percent, ANTA Sports gained 0.80 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.41 percent, China Mengniu Dairy picked up 0.39 percent, China Resources Land rallied 1.72 percent, CITIC sank 0.45 percent, CNOOC climbed 1.19 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical strengthened 1.58 percent, Galaxy Entertainment surged 3.31 percent, Haier Smart Home spiked 2.16 percent, Hang Lung Properties skyrocketed 4.37 percent, Henderson Land perked 0.23 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas improved 1.35 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.71 percent, JD.com added 1.03 percent, Lenovo was up 0.21 percent, Li Auto accelerated 2.56 percent, Li Ning lost 0.25 percent, Meituan eased 0.20 percent, New World Development gathered 0.48 percent, Nongfu Spring oved up 0.14 percent, Techtronic Industries tumbled 1.42 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rose 0.68 percent and WuXi Biologics increased 1.21 percent.

The Singapore stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, easing almost 10 points or 0.3 percent in that span. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,800-point plateau and it's expected to extend its losses again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the way lower. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit. The STI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the trusts, gains from the banks and mixed performances from the properties and industrials. For the day, the index lost 7.55 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 3,796.71 after trading between 3,790.75 and 3,806.06. Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust retreated 1.03 percent, while City Developments sank 0.40 percent, DBS Group collected 0.21 percent, DFI Retail added 0.44 percent, Genting Singapore tumbled 1.34 percent, Hongkong Land rallied 1.41 percent, Keppel DC REIT plummeted 7.93 percent, Keppel Ltd slumped 0.73 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust plunged 2.73 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation perked 0.12 percent, SATS dropped 0.58 percent, Seatrium Limited tanked 1.77 percent, SembCorp Industries lost 0.36 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering jumped 1.46 percent, Thai Beverage declined 0.93 percent, Wilmar International skidded 0.65 percent, Yangzijiang Financial climbed 1.11 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding strengthened 1.34 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Investment, SingTel, Emperador, Mapletree Logistics Trust and Comfort DelGro were unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is pretty awful as the major averages opened under water on Monday. The Dow managed to climb into positive territory, but the NASDAQ and S&P 500 finished with heavy losses.

The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, shedding almost 30 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,560-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Tuesday.

After nine successive days of gains, the Canadian market turned weak on Monday, as stocks, particularly in the technology sector, tumbled on sustained selling pressure. Energy and materials stocks fell on weak commodity prices.