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 remain cautious and continued to refrain from creating fresh long positions. They are likely to keep an eye on remarks by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later in the day for additional clues about the outlook for further rate hikes. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

The Australian stock market slightly higher in choppy trading on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,500 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders remain cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's rate decision later in the day. Energy and financial stocks are gaining.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 4.30 points or 0.06 percent to 7,543.30, after touching a high of 7,553.40 and a low of 7,526.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 6.50 points or 0.08 percent to 7,752.40. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, OZ Minerals and Mineral Resources are flat. Rio Tinto is edging down 0.4 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is adding more than 3 percent and Woodside Energy is edging up 0.4 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent and Xero Global is edging up 0.2 percent, while WiseTech Global and Zip are down almost 1 percent each. Appen is losing 1.5 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Northern Star Resources is losing almost 1 percent and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.5 percent, while Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are edging up 0.2 percent each. Resolute Mining is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.2 percent and ANZ Banking is adding more than 1 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each.

In economic news, Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$12.237 billion in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday. That was shy of expectations for a surplus of A$12.500 billion and down from A$13.201 billion in November.

The Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The RBA is widely expected to hike its benchmark lending rate for the ninth straight time by 25 basis points, from 3.10 percent to 3.35 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.692 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous four sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 27,700 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, driven by gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,754.36, up 60.71 points or 0.22 percent, after touching a high of 27,814.96 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.1 percent and Toyota is also edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are adding almost 1 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 3 percent each.

The major exporters are mixed. Panasonic and Canon are edging down 0.5 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.1 percent. Sony is flat. Among the other major gainers, Yamato Holdings is soaring more than 7 percent, Hitachi Zosen is surging more than 5 percent, Osaka Gas is gaining more than 4 percent and Concordia Financial Group is adding almost 4 percent, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ajinomoto and Keio are advancing more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, JFE Holdings is plunging almost 8 percent.

In economic news, the average of household spending in Japan was down 1.3 percent on year in December, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday. That missed forecasts for a decline of 0.,2 percent following the 1.2 percent annual drop in November. On a monthly basis, household spending slipped 2.1 percent - again shy of expectations for a gain of 0.3 percent following the 0.9 percent decline a month earlier.

The average of monthly income per household stood at 1,150,808 yen, down 0.4 percent on year. Overall wages were up 4.8 percent in December, while overtime pay increased 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 132 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.9 percent each, while New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each.

On the Wall Street, stocks saw further downside during trading on Monday following the sharp pullback seen last Friday. With the decline, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell further from multi-month highs.

The major averages all closed in negative territory, although the Dow showed a relatively modest drop, edging down 34.99 points or 0.1 percent to 33,891.02. The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 119.50 points or 1.0 percent to 11,887.45, while the S&P 500 slid 25.40 points or 0.6 percent to 4,111.08.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both fell by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Monday on optimism energy demand from China will see a big jump after Saudi Arabia unexpectedly increased the prices of oil to be shipped to Asia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.72 or 1 percent at $74.11 a barrel.