Asian Markets Trading Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, as traders remain cautious and reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of reports on US consumer and producer price inflation, which are due in the next two days, and could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying below the 7,300 level, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, with weakness across most sectors, led by financial and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 19.00 points or 0.26 percent to 7,257.50, after hitting a low of 7,239.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 20.50 points or 0.27 percent to 7,451.60. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.3 percent and Rio Tinto is edging up 0.5 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 2 percent. Fortescue Metals is adding almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 2 percent, Woodside Energy is down more than 1 percent and Santos is slipping almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy is flat. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Zip are losing almost 2 percent each, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.3 percent. Xero is edging up 0.2 percent and Appen is gaining more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Newcrest Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing almost 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is losing almost 2 percent each and ANZ Banking is down almost 1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.678 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Tuesday, recouping the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 staying above the 29,100 level, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors, led by technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 29,190.82, down 240.94 points or 0.83 percent, after touching a high of 29,196.40 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also edging up 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is adding 1.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 3 percent, Screen Holdings is adding almost 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is up more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is flat.

The major exporters are higher. Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Sony is adding almost 2 percent. Canon is flat. Among the other major gainers, JFE Holdings is soaring more than 14 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is surging almost 6 percent, while Fuji Electric and Nippon Steel are gaining more than 4 percent. Kobe Steel is adding almost 4 percent and Mitsui & Co. is up almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Ricoh is plunging 8.5 percent.

In economic news, the average of household spending in Japan was down 0.8 percent on month in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday - coming in at 312,758 yen. That missed expectations for an increase of 1.5 percent following the 2.4 percent contraction in February. On a yearly basis, household spending slumped 1.9 percent - again missing forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent following the 1.6 percent gain in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 135 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand is down 0.7 percent, while Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.3 percent each. China is bucking the trend and is up 0.2 percent. On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Monday, following the significant rebound seen during last Friday's session. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the session narrowly mixed. While the Dow edged down 55.69 points or 0.2 percent to 33,618.69, the S&P 500 crept up 1.87 points or 0.1 percent to 4,138.12 and the Nasdaq rose 21.50 points or 0.2 percent to 12,256.92.

The major European markets also turned in a lackluster performance on the day. While the U.K. markets were closed on the day, the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid optimism about the outlook for energy demand thanks to last week's fairly encouraging non-farm payrolls data. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended higher by $1.82 or 2.6 percent at $73.16 a barrel.