Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remained cautious and seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the closely contested US presidential election later in the day and the US Fed's upcoming interest rate decision later this week. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

The Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by another 25 basis points, but traders will be looking to the accompanying statement for clues about the likelihood of future rate cuts.

Reversing the gains in the previous session, the Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to stay above the 8,100 level, with weakness across most sectors led by technology and financial stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 33.70 points or 0.41 percent to 8,130.90, after hitting a low of 8,113.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 34.30 points or 0.41 percent to 8,388.50. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.3 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 1 percent each. Mineral Resources is gaining more than 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy, Woodside Energy and Santos are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Zip is losing almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 2 percent and Xero is declining more than 1 percent, while Appen is gaining more than 1 percent. Afterpay owner Block is flat.

Gold miners are mixed. Gold Road Resources is losing more than 1 percent and Northern Star resources is edging down 0.1 percent, while Resolute Mining is adding almost 1 percent. Evolution Mining and Newmont are flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are all losing almost 1 percent each.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 4.35 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.659 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly higher in post-holiday trading on Tuesday, reversing the losses in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving well above the 38,400 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors led by exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,474.66, up 420.99 points or 1.11 percent, after touching a high of 38,572.67 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday prior to the holiday on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is flat and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining 2.5 percent, Screen Holdings is surging more than 6 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic is surging almost 6 percent, Sony is adding almost 3 percent and Canon is up almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 2 percent

Among the other major losers, Yamaha is plummeting more than 14 percent, NH Foods is plunging more than 10 percent and AGC is losing more than 3 percent, while Recruit Holdings and Konica Minolta are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sumitomo Electric Industries is soaring almost 11 percent, while TDK and Nomura Holdings are surging more than 7 percent each. Mitsubishi Chemical Group is advancing almost 7 percent, Disco is gaining 5.5 percent, Subaru is adding almost 5 percent and Minebea Mitsumi is rising more than 4 percent, while Mazda Motor, Murata Manufacturing and Marubeni are rising almost 4 percent each. Kyocera, Kubota and Denso are up more than 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 152 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China is up 1.3 percent, while New Zealand, Hong Kong and Taiwan are higher by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each. Singapore and South Korea are down 0.2 and 0.7 percent, respectively. Indonesia and Malaysia are relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Monday after turning in a strong performance during last Friday's session. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing in negative territory.

The Dow underperformed its counterparts, sliding 257.59 points or 0.6 percent to 41,794.60. The Nasdaq fell 59.93 points or 0.3 percent to 18,179.98 and the S&P 500 dipped 16.11 points or 0.3 percent to 5,712.69.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday, buoyed by OPEC's decision to delay plans to increase production, and on rising concerns about tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December closed up $1.98 or about 2.85% at $71.47 a barrel, extending gains to a fourth straight session.