Czech Economy Enters Recession In Q4 With 0.3% Contraction

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,500 level, with gains is gold miners and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in iron ore miners and technology stocks.

The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 820 points or 3.9 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 21,520-point plateau and it's got a solid lead again for Tuesday's trade. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, supported by the oil, finance and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets saw modest upside and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit. The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Monday with gains from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies. For the day, the index surged 388.44 points or 1.84 percent to finish at 21,521.98 after trading between 21,223.61 and 21,539.63. Among the actives, Alibaba Group soared 5.50 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skyrocketed 9.16 percent, ANTA Sports added 0.81 percent, China Life Insurance rose 0.66 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 1.84 percent, China Resources Land climbed 1.92 percent, CITIC gathered 0.56 percent, CNOOC sank 0.54 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical improved 1.76 percent, Galaxy Entertainment shed 0.51 percent, Haier Smart Home gained 0.79 percent, Hang Lung Properties increased 1.31 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.23 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas perked 0.51 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.93 percent, JD.com accelerated 2.80 percent, Lenovo lost 0.33 percent, Li Auto jumped 2.33 percent, Li Ning slumped 1.23 percent, Meituan surged 5.58 percent, New World Development was up 0.47 percent, Nongfu Spring strengthened 1.96 percent, Techtronic Industries tumbled 1.86 percent, Xiaomi Corporation spiked 3.06 percent and WuXi Biologics rallied 2.35 percent.

The China stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, improving almost 90 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,320-point plateau and it may add to its winnings again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, supported by the oil, finance and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets saw modest upside and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit. The SCI finished modestly higher again on Monday as gains from the properties and resource stocks were offset by weakness from the financial shares. For the day, the index added 18.50 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 3,322.17 after trading between 3,299.24 and 3,325.36. The Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 21.57 points or 1.08 percent to end at 2,017.81. Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.30 percent, while Bank of China dipped 0.19 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 1.00 percent, China Life Insurance shed 0.54 percent, Jiangxi Copper added 0.42 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) improved 0.77 percent, Yankuang Energy lost 0.67 percent, PetroChina slipped 0.36 percent, China Shenhua Energy and Huaneng Power both sank 0.77 percent, Gemdale gained 0.42 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.24 percent and China Vanke, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) were unchanged.

The Taiwan stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the four-day winning streak in which it had spiked more than 760 points or 3.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 23,250-point plateau although it may see renewed support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, supported by the oil, finance and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets saw modest upside and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 60 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,875-point plateau and it's likely to open to the upside again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, supported by the oil, finance and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets saw modest upside and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit. The STI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financials and telecoms were offset by weakness from the industrials and properties. For the day, the index added 13.71 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 3,875.13 after trading between 3,872.98 and 3,921.30. Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gathered 0.51 percent, while CapitaLand Investment tanked 1.99 percent, City Developments dipped 0.40 percent, DBS Group jumped 1.57 percent, DFI Retail gained 0.85 percent, Genting Singapore rose 0.68 percent, Hongkong Land plummeted 3.67 percent, Keppel DC REIT sank 0.91 percent, Keppel Ltd fell 0.74 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust shed 0.83 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust lost 0.81 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.35 percent, SATS stumbled 1.82 percent, Seatrium Limited slumped 0.93 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 0.92 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering plunged 2.00 percent, SingTel advanced 0.91 percent, Thai Beverage retreated 0.97 percent, Venture Corporation rallied 1.91 percent, Wilmar International and Jardine Matheson both eased 0.30 percent, Yangzijiang Financial spiked 2.11 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slid 0.66 percent and Comfort DelGro, Emperador, Mapletree Industrial Trust and UOL Group were unchanged.

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's fresh tariff threats, the Canadian market stayed positive on Monday and closed on a strong note, as higher commodity prices and expectations of more monetary easing by a few central banks helped underpin sentiment.

The South Korea stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, giving away more than 15 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,520-point plateau although it may find support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, supported by the oil, finance and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets saw modest upside and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit. The KOSPI finished barely lower on Monday following losses from the industrials and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks. For the day, the index eased 0.65 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 2,521.27 after trading between 2,499.18 and 2,527.33. Volume was 386.81 million shares worth 10.38 trillion won. There were 454 decliners and 414 gainers. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.30 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.28 percent, Hana Financial slumped 1.46 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 3.54 percent, Samsung SDI improved 0.72 percent, LG Electronics lost 0.63 percent, SK Hynix stumbled 2.41 percent, Naver advanced 0.89 percent, LG Chem jumped 1.81 percent, Lotte Chemical weakened 1.65 percent, SK Innovation dipped 0.26 percent, POSCO Holdings sank 0.84 percent, SK Telecom fell 0.36 percent, KEPCO was down 0.24 percent, Hyundai Mobis eased 0.20 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 0.55 percent and Kia Motors tumbled 1.97 percent.

The U.S. dollar gained against its major counterparts on Monday amid concerns about inflation and slightly fading hopes of more interest rate cuts by the Fed following new tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.