Asian Markets Track Global Markets Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, amid recent soft inflation data that raised speculation the US Fed might slow down the pace of monetary tightening. Traders looked ahead to the Fed minutes, due out on Wednesday, for clues about the pace of rate hikes in the future. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

Traders also shook off concerns about the global economy after the release of weak Chinese data and a surprise interest rate cut by China's central bank.

The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains in financial stocks partially offset by weakness in resources and energy stocks.

Traders also now await the release of the minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's August policy meeting later in the day. At the meeting, the central bank decided to lift the cash rate target by 50 basis points to 1.85 percent, the highest level since April 2016.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 38.00 points or 0.54 percent to 7,102.30, after touching a high of 7,131.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 35.00 points or 0.48 percent to 7,359.90. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. OZ Minerals is up almost 1 percent and BHP Group is gaining more than 3 percent after reporting a jump in full-year profit and raising dividend.

Oil stocks are mostly lower, with Beach energy slipping 4.5 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are losing more than 1 percent each. Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Appen is down almost 1 percent and Zip is slipping more than 5 percent, while WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent and Xero is adding almost 2 percent. Afterpay owner Block is flat.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are losing more than 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is declining almost 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.4 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining more than 1 percent and Westpac is edging up 0.4 percent, while National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are adding almost 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Tassal Group are surging more than 5 percent after the salmon producer accepted a sweetened $5.23 per share takeover offer from Canadian aquaculture company Cooke Inc.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.703 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Tuesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 staying below the 28,900 level, despite the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with the market looking for direction, while alternating across the unchanged line.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 28,861.76, down 10.02 points or 0.03 percent, after hitting a low of 28,752.88 and a high of 28,928.16 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is declining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.5 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.3 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.1 percent. Mizuho Financial is flat.

The major exporters are mixed, with Mitsubishi Electric losing almost 1 percent, while Panasonic is edging up 0.1 percent. Sony and Canon are flat. Among the other major losers, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is slipping almost 5 percent, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Nippon Yusen K.K. are losing almost 4 percent each. Daiichi Sankyo is down more than 3 percent, while Idemitsu Kosan, Ebara, Isuzu Motors, JGC Holdings and Mazda Motor are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, BANDAI NAMCO is gaining more than 4 percent, while M3 and Tokyo Tatemono are adding almost 4 percent each. Konami Group and Trend Micro are up almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 133 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent, while, Singapore is bucking the trend and in down 0.2 percent. New Zealand is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks recovered and stayed firm to eventually close on a positive note on Monday after spending a couple of hours of the day's session in negative territory. The early weakness was due to weak industrial output, retail sales and fixed-asset investment data out of China. Data showing weak business activity in New York hurt as well. However, stocks rebounded as the day progressed with recent soft inflation data raising speculation that the Fed might slow down the pace of monetary tightening.

The major averages all ended on a firm note. The Dow ended with a gain of 151.39 points or 0.45 percent at 33,912.44, rallying from an early low of 33,582.96. The S&P 500 settled with a gain of 16.99 points or 0.4 percent at 4,297.14, while the Nasdaq advanced 80.87 points or 0.62 percent at 13,128.05, recovering from a low of 12,993.78.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.11 percent, Germany's DAX advanced 0.15 percent and France's CAC 40 moved up 0.25 percent. Crude oil prices tumbled Monday on worries about energy demand after data showed slower than expected growth of the Chinese economy in July. The lowering of the oil demand forecast for 2022 by OPEC also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September dropped $2.68 or 2.9 percent at $89.41 a barrel.