Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious as uncertainty prevails over the size and the scope of new reciprocal tariffs on imports to the US to be announced later in the day. Some traders also continue to pick up stocks at a bargain after heavy selling in the previous sessions. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.

A report from the Washington Post this morning said White House aides have drafted a proposal to impose tariffs of around 20 percent on most imports to the U.S. The report also said White House advisers cautioned that several options are on the table and no final decision has been made.

The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying well above the 7,900 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in financial and some technology stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 17.40 points or 0.22 percent to 7,942.60, after touching a high of 7,978.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 15.20 points or 0.19 percent to 8,142.10. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are declining almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is losing 1.5 percent and Fortescue Metals is down more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing more than 1 percent, Santos is edging down 0.2 percent and Beach energy is declining more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 1 percent, while Appen is declining almost 2 percent, Xero is edging down 0.4 percent and Zip is sliding more than 8 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.5 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is edging down 0.4 percent, Newmont is losing more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is declining almost 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.630 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly higher in choppy trading on Wednesday after opening in the green briefly slipping in to the red, adding to the slight gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is staying above the 35,600 level, with gains in automakers, exporters and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 35,639.81, up 15.33 points or 0.04 percent, after touching a high of 35,751.02 and a low of 35,426.33 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.2 percent and Toyota is also edging up 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are adding more than 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing almost 2 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is declining more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is edging up 0.2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are gaining almost 1 percent each. Sony is losing almost 2 percent.

Among other major losers, Isetan Mitsukoshi is losing 4.5 percent, while Sumitomo Pharma and Tokyo Electric Power are slipping almost 4 percent each. Eisai is down more than 3 percent, while J. Front Retailing, Nissan Motor, Idemitsu Kosan, Dai-ichi Life, Astellas Pharma, Rakuten Group, Tokyo Gas, Kansai Electric Power, Concordia Financial and Otsuka Holdings are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 149 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each, while Singapore and South Korea are down 0.3 percent each. Indonesia remains closed for Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the remainder of the session after recovering from an early move to the downside and moving mostly higher in morning trading on Tuesday. The major averages spent the day swinging back and forth across the unchanged line.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq eventually ended the day firmly positive, jumping 150.60 points or 0.9 percent to 17,449.89. The S&P 500 also climbed 21.22 points or 0.4 percent to 5,633.07, but the narrower Dow edged down 11.80 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 41,989.96.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index surged by 1.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices moved to the downside during trading on Tuesday, giving back ground after surging to its highest closing level over a month on Monday. After spiking $2.12 or 3.1 percent to $71.48 a barrel in the previous session, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May delivery fell $0.38 or 0.5 percent to $71.10 a barrel.