Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid easing global trade concerns after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said 17 trading partners, excluding China, have presented very good trade proposals and some deals may be announced as early as this week. He added there could be substantial progress on trade with China in the coming weeks. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

The Australian stock market is trading slightly lower in choppy trading 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 staying below the 8,200 level, with weakness in iron ore miners, financial and some technology stocks partially offset by strong gains in gold miners.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 11.50 points or 0.14 percent to 8,146.30, after hitting a low of 8,138.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 9.70 points or 0.12 percent to 8,364.30. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Beach energy is gaining more than 2 percent and Santos is up almost 1 percent. Woodside Energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent and Zip is adding almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is declining more than 3 percent, Appen is losing more than 2 percent and Xero is down more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is advancing almost 6 percent, Gold Road Resources is up almost 2 percent, Northern Star resources is gaining more than 3 percent, Newmont is adding almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is surging almost 8 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is losing almost 2 percent, Westpac is down more than 2 percent, ANZ Banking is slipping more than 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank is declining almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Skycity Entertainment Group are plunging more than 5 percent after the gambling company downgraded its full-year 2025 earnings guidance.

Shares in NextDC are climbing almost 8 percent after an operation update showed new customer contract wins at the AI-fuelled data centre operator.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.645 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is closed for Greenery Day holiday on Tuesday. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Friday ahead of the holiday on Monday.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 143 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each, while New Zealand and Singapore are down 0.1 percent each. South Korea is closed for Buddha Day holiday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading session on Monday before eventually ending the day mostly lower. The major averages recovered from an early slump but once again came under pressure in the latter part of the session.

The major averages ended the day off their early lows but still in negative territory. The Nasdaq slid 133.49 points or 0.7 percent to 17,844.24, the S&P 500 fell 36.29 points or 0.6 percent at 5,650.38 and the Dow dipped 98.60 points or 0.2 percent to 41,218.83.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed, with the U.K. market closed for a holiday. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Monday to a four-year low after several members of OPEC+ agreed to increase oil production for a second month. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery tumbled $1.16 or 2 percent to $57.13 a barrel.