Asian Markets A Sea Of Red

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are a sea of red on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid increasing worries the U.S. is headed for a recession and concerns over the health of the world economy following the likely impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs and trade policies. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

Trump declined to rule out the possibility of a recession following his tariff actions on Mexico, Canada and China. He warned of imposing sweeping banking sanctions and tariffs on Russia until there is a ceasefire and peace agreement.

Traders look ahead to the release of some key U.S. economic data in the coming days. Reports on consumer and producer price inflation are likely to be in focus along with readings on consumer sentiment and inflation expectations.

The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 7,900 level, with weakness is mining and technology stocks partially offset by gains in energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 70.40 points or 0.88 percent to 7,891.90, after hitting a low of 7,818.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 87.90 points or 1.07 percent to 8,103.80. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Mineral Resources is sliding more than 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is declining more than 1 percent, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy, Santos and Woodside Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is adding more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is sliding almost 8 percent and Xero is slipping more than 5 percent, while Appen, Zip and WiseTech Global are declining more than 3 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is losing almost 4 percent, Resolute Mining is declining more than 1 percent, Newmont is tumbling more than 3 percent, Gold Road Resources is slipping more than 4 percent and Northern Star resources is down almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is edging up 0.5 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining more than 1 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.1 percent.

In other news, shares in Star Entertainment are still under a trading halt amid financial rescue plan as US casino giant Bally's offered to buy a controlling stake in the beleaguered casino operator.

Shares in Nickel Industries are tumbling almost 18 percent after news the Indonesian government is considering a major overhaul of its mining royalty system. The company operates a portfolio of mining and downstream nickel processing assets.

Shares in PolyNovo are slipping almost 8 percent after it said chief executive Swami Raote would step down with immediate effect.

In economic news, Australia's Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index rose 4 percent in March, reaching 95.9 from 92.2 in February. It is the highest level in three years.

Australia's NAB business confidence index tumbled to negative 1 in February 2025 from an upwardly revised 5 in the prior month, marking the first negative reading of the year.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.628 on Tuesday. The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Tuesday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 36,400 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 36,382.57, down 645.70 points or 1.74 percent, after hitting a low of 35,987.13 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.3 percent and Toyota is declining 3.5 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing more than 4 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining more than 4 percent and Mizuho Financial is slipping more than 6 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic is losing almost 5 percent, Canon is down almost 2 percent, Sony is declining more than 4 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down more than 2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Fujikura is tumbling more than 7 percent and IHI is slipping almost 7 percent, while Konica Minolta, NEC and Japan Steel Works are plunging more than 6 percent each. Furukawa Electric, Fujitsu, T&D Holdings, Nomura Holdings, Sumitomo Electric Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are losing almost 6 percent each, while Ebara, Fukuoka Financial Group and Resona Holdings are declining more than 5 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In economic news, Japan's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2024, the Cabinet Office said in Tuesday's second preliminary estimate. That was down from the first estimate for a 0.7 percent increase but still up from 0.3 percent in the three months prior. On an annualized basis, GDP was up 2.2 percent - down from 2.8 percent in the first estimate but up from 1.2 percent in the third quarter. Capital expenditure was up 0.6 percent on quarter, beating forecasts for 0.5 percent after slipping 0.1 percent in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the average of household spending in Japan was up 0.8 percent on year in January, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday - coming in at 305,521 yen. That missed forecasts for an increase of 3.7 percent and was down from 2.7 percent in December. On a monthly basis, household spending slumped 4.5 percent - again missing forecasts for a decline of 1.9 percent after rising 2.3 percent in the previous month. The average of monthly income per household stood at 514,877 yen, down 1.1 percent from the previous year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 146 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are lower by between 1.1 and 1.7 percent each, while China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia are down between 0.3 and 0.9 percent each. On Wall Street, stocks tumbled on Monday and the major averages all closed sharply lower, with the tech-laden Nasdaq recording a more pronounced losses. Uncertainty about President Donald Trump's tariff moves, fears of a recession in the world's largest economy, and weak global growth outlook weighed on investor sentiment.

Among the major averages, the Dow closed down 890.01 points or 2.08 percent, at 41,911.71. The S&P 500 ended lower by 155.64 points or 2.7 percent, at 5,614.56, while the Nasdaq dropped 727.90 points or 4 percent to 17,468.32.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.92 percent, Germany's DAX settled 1.6 percent down, and France's CAC 40 closed down 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices fell to six-month lows on Monday as worries about global economic growth and fears of a U.S. recession fueled demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures settled lower by $1.01 or 1.5 percent at $66.03 a barrel, the lowest settlement since September 10, 2024.