Asian Markets Lower As Financial Stocks Tumble

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, on continued concerns over the fallout from the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, which triggered heavy selling, particularly in the banking sector. Traders now await key US inflation data due later in day with hopes the Fed will pause its tightening cycle due to the debacle in the banking sector. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

The U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said they would "fully protect" depositors with funds in SVB, including those with assets above the federally guaranteed $250,000 limit, but traders were not reassured.

The Australian stock market sharply higher on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,000 mark, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain spooked that a U.S. banking debacle may follow last week's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, even though banking regulators have allayed all such fears.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 118.00 points or 1.67 percent to 6,990.80, after hitting a low of 6,950.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 127.70 points or 1.75 percent to 7,183.30. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 2 percent, OZ Minerals is edging down 0.1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining 3.5 percent, while Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are down more than 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are lower. Beach energy is losing almost 5 percent, Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent, Santos is declining more than 3 percent and Woodside Energy is slipping almost 4 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Zip are losing almost 4 percent each, while Xero, Appen and WiseTech Global are declining more than 2 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 3 percent, Gold Road Resources is adding more than 2 percent, Newcrest Mining is advancing almost 4 percent, Evolution Mining is up almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is rising more than 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing almost 2 percent and National Australia Bank is slipping almost 3 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are declining more than 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.663 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling to a tad above the 27,300 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with banking stocks tumbling amid fears that a U.S. banking debacle may follow last week's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, even though banking regulators have allayed all such fears.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,302.64, down 530.32 points or 1.91 percent, after hitting a low of 27,104.75 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 5 percent and Toyota is declining more than 4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing 1.5 percent, Screen Holdings is declining almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is down almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are plunging almost 8 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is declining more than 7 percent.

The major exporters are mixed. Sony and Canon are losing more than 3 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is declining 2.5 percent and Panasonic slipping almost 4 percent. Among the other major losers, Resona Holdings is plummeting more than 9 percent, T&D Holdings is plunging more than 8 percent and Concordia Financial Group is sliding almost 8 percent, while Dai-ichi Life Holdings and Tokio Marine Holdings are losing more than 7 percent each. Chiba Bank, Fukuoka Financial Group and Mazda Motor are slipping almost 7 percent, while Credit Saison, Resonac Holdings and Mitsubishi Motors is declining more than 6 percent. Orix is down almost 6 percent.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 133 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is down 2.0 percent, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.6 and 1.3 percent each. Singapore is relatively flat. On the Wall Street, stocks recovered after an early setback on Monday and ended on a mixed note, but shares from the technology space outperformed, spending much of the day's session in positive territory. Concerns over the fallout of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank rendered the mood quite bearish at the start.

Among the major averages, the Dow, which plunged to 31,624.87 in early trades, ended with a loss of 90.50 points or 0.28 percent at 31,819.14. The S&P 500 ended 5.83 points or 0.15% lower at 3,855.76, recovering from 3,808.86. The Nasdaq ended higher by 49.96 points or 0.45 percent at 11,188.84, more than 200 points off the day's low of 10,982.80.

The major European markets moved sharply to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 2.56 percent, Germany's DAX dropped 2.86 percent and France's CAC 40 fell 2.85 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday amid worries that a U.S. banking debacle may follow last week's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures settled lower by $1.88 or 2.4 percent at $74.80 a barrel.