Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain concerned about the lingering US tariff threats and uncertainty about the outlook for global economic growth. US President Donald Trump directed a top government committee to limit Chinese investment in energy, technology, and other vital U.S. industries. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

Trump also said previously delayed tariffs on Canada and Mexico are "going forward on time." Claiming the U.S. has "been taken advantage of" on "just about everything," Trump said, "The tariffs will go forward... and we're going to make up a lot of territory."

The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, reversing the slight gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,300 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 59.70 points or 0.72 percent to 8,248.50, after hitting a low of 8,227.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 64.20 points or 0.75 percent to 8,495.90. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is declining almost 6 percent and Fortescue Metals is down more than 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy, Beach energy and Santos are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Woodside Energy is gaining almost 3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 4 percent after fourth-quarter revenue fell short of analyst forecasts. Xero is down almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is declining more than 2 percent and Appen is slipping more than 1 percent, while Zip is jumping almost 15 percent after its cash earnings more than doubled amid transactions growth and lower bad debts.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Resolute Mining is up almost 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is adding more than 1 percent and Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, while Newmont is losing almost 3 percent and Northern Star resources is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are losing almost 2 percent each, while Westpac is edging down 0.4 percent and ANZ Banking is down more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Viva Energy are tumbling more than 27 percent, after its half-yearly profit fell 20 percent.

Shares in Domino's Pizza are plunging almost 11 percent after the fast-food retailer swung to a loss on heavy restructuring costs.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.635 on Tuesday. The Japanese stock market is significantly lower in post-holiday trading on Tuesday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 38,400 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,345.99, down 430.95 points or 1.11 percent, after hitting a low of 38,131.79 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Friday ahead of the holiday on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent, while Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is declining 3.5 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.5 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down 1.5 percent.

The major exporters are mixed. Panasonic and Sony are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.5 percent and Canon is advancing more than 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Nissan Motor is tumbling almost 8 percent and Hitachi is plunging more than 6 percent and Furukawa Electric is sliding almost 6 percent, while Recruit Holdings and Fujikura are declining more than 5 percent each. NTT Data, Japan Steel Works, Renesas Electronics and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are slipping almost 4 percent each, while Sumitomo Electric Industries, ENEOS Holdings and Kubota are down more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Mitsubishi is soaring more than 8 percent, Marubeni is surging more than 7 percent, Itochu is advancing more than 6 percent, Sumitomo is gaining almost 6 percent and Mitsui & Co. is adding more than 4 percent, while Ricoh, Shionogi & Co. and Olympus are up more than 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 150 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand and Hong Kong are down 1.4 percent each, while China, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.4 and 1.0 percent each. Singapore is relatively flat. On Wall Street, stocks saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading day on Monday following the significant pullback seen during last Thursday and Friday's session. The major averages showed wild swings back and forth across the unchanged line as the day progressed.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 eventually ended the day firmly in negative territory, but the narrower Dow posted a modest gain. While the Dow inched up 33.19 points or 0.1 percent to 43,461.21, the S&P 500 fell 29.88 points or 0.5 percent to 5,983.25 and the Nasdaq tumbled 237.08 points or 1.2 percent to 19,286.92.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday as fresh sanctions by the United States on Iran raised the possibility of a drop in global supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April settled higher by $0.30 at $70.70 a barrel.