Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of some key economic data in the coming days. Most currencies in the region also strengthened against the US dollar. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

Traders also were looking for additional clues about the outlook for interest rates, with optimism the US Fed is done raising rates and might consider reducing them by the second half of 2024. The U.S., European and Chinese PMIs, eurozone inflation data and U.S. personal consumption numbers will be released this week

Recouping most of the losses in the previous session, the Australian stock market is notably higher on Tuesday, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 7,000 mark, with gains across most sectors, led by miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 34.90 points or 0.50 percent to 7,022.50, after touching a high of 7,049.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 36.00 points or 0.50 percent to 7,228.80. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.3 percent each, while Mineral Resources is adding almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is gaining 1.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Santos and Beach energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging down 0.4 percent and Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is adding almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent, Appen is surging almost 6 percent, Zip is advancing more than 3 percent and Xero is edging up 0.1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star resources, Newmont and Resolute Mining are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are adding more than 1 percent each.

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

In other news, shares in Collins Foods are surging almost 11 percent after lifting its interim dividends.

Shares in Imugene are skyrocketing more than 26 percent on news it has been granted Fast Track designation from the US FDA for the clinical evaluation of its metastatic advanced solid tumours programme against a new form of cancer.

In economic news, the value of retail sales in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on month in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday - coming in at A$35.767 billion. That missed expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent and was down from 0.9 percent in September. On a yearly basis, retail sales rose 1.2 percent.

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

Extending the losses in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 33,400 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, dragged by weakness in some index heavyweights.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 33,370.40, down 77.27 points or 0.23 percent, after hitting a low of 33,298.04 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Monday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.3 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is flat.

The major exporters are mixed. Canon is gaining almost 1 percent and Sony is edging up 0.1 percent, while Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Sharp is losing almost 7 percent and Denso is down almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Sojitz is soaring almost 8 percent and Nippon Paper Industries is gaining more than 5 percent, while Yokohama Rubber and Rakuten Group are adding almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is up 1.2 percent, while New Zealand, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. Singapore and Hong Kong are down 0.2 and 0.3 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Monday, extending the lackluster performance seen during last Friday's holiday-shortened session. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly lower.

The Dow slipped 56.68 points or 0.2 percent to 35,333.47 and the S&P 500 dipped 8.91 points or 0.2 percent to 4,550.43, pulling back off their best closing levels in over three months, while the Nasdaq edged down 9.83 points or 0.1 percent to 14,241.02.

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

Crude Oil prices fell on Monday with traders speculating on the likely outcome of Thursday's OPEC meeting to discuss production cuts. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for January fell $0.68 or 0.9 percent at $74.86 a barrel.