Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are worried US President-elect Donald Trump's protectionist trade policies will likely push up inflation next year. Some traders are also taking profits going into the end of the year. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

The Australian stock market is trading significantly lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,200 level, with weakness in mining, financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 53.70 points or 0.65 percent to 8,181.30, after hitting a low of 8,168.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 51.20 points or 0.60 percent to 8,444.80. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is declining almost 1 percent, while Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.5 percent each. Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are higher. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent, while Santos and Woodside Energy are adding almost 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 2 percent, Zip is declining 1.5 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent and Xero is edging down 0.2 percent, while Appen is gaining more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Newmont is declining more than 2 percent, Evolution Mining is edging down 0.5 percent and Northern Star resources is down almost 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Mesoblast are soaring more than 9 percent after the recent approval of one of the biotechnology company's mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy in the U.S. buy the FDA.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.623 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is closed for New Year's Eve holiday on Tuesday. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Monday.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 156 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand is down 1.2 percent, while China, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. Hong Kong and Indonesia are up 0.6 percent each. South Korea is closed for New Year's Eve holiday, markets in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong will close early for the holiday.

On Wall Street, stocks regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Monday after moving sharply lower early in the session, but remained firmly in negative territory. The major averages added to the steep losses posted last Friday.

The Dow climbed off its worst levels after tumbling by more than 700 points in early trading but still ended the day down 418.48 points or 1.0 percent at 42,573.73. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also dove 235.25 points or 1.2 percent to 19,486.78 and the S&P 500 slumped 63.90 points or 1.1 percent to 5,906.94.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices rose to a five-week high on Monday, continuing to benefit from recent data showing a larger than expected drop in crude inventories in the U.S. Expectations of increased demand from China contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for February rose 0.6 percent to $70.99 a barrel.