Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as markets in the region react positively to China's announcement of more proactive fiscal measures and a moderately looser monetary policy that bodes well for the nations flattering economy. However, the escalating conflict in the Middle East is weighing on market sentiment. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

Traders also look ahead to the release of closely watched U.S. inflation data later in the week, which could impact the outlook for interest rates.

While the US Fed is widely expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points next week, there is some uncertainty about whether the central bank will continue cutting rates next year.

Traders currently price in an 87% chance of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut at next week's Fed meeting, up from 61.6% last week, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Reversing the slight gains in the previous session, the Australian stock market is trading notably lower on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 8,400 level, with weakness in technology and financial stocks partially offset gains in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 54.90 points or 0.65 percent to 8,368.10, after touching a high of 8,447.70 and a low of 8,365.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 60.20 points or 0.69 percent to 8,626.80. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 4 percent, Rio Tinto is advancing more than 5 percent, Fortescue Metals is surging almost 7 percent and Mineral Resources is climbing almost 6 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy is advancing more than 2 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 3 percent, Appen is down almost 2 percent, Xero is adding almost 4 percent, Zip is declining more than 6 percent and WiseTech Global is slipping more than 4 percent.

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

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

In other news, shares in Perpetual are tumbling more than 6 percent on news that it could be hit with a tax bill of more than $500 million over the sale of assets to private equity giant KKR.

Shares in Life360 are slipping almost 6 percent on news the stock's weighting in the Russell indexes was miscalculated, forcing passive funds to re-adjust their positions.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 4.35 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.642 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading slightly higher on Tuesday, adding the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving up to be a tad below the 39,200 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 39,197.42, up 36.92 points or 0.09 percent, after touching a high of 39,465.14 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining 2.5 percent and Toyota is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining 2.5 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding more than 2 percent, while Advantest is flat.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic is gaining more than 3 percent, Sony is advancing more than 4 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding almost 2 percent, while Canon is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Omron, Shiseido and Sumitomo Metal Mining are surging almost 5 percent each, while Toto, Marubeni, Yaskawa Electric and Sumitomo Pharma are advancing more than 4 percent each. Fanuc, Suzuki Motor and Mitsui & Co. are gaining almost 4 percent each, while Mitsui Mining & Smelting, Mitsubishi Materials and Sumco are adding more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Fujikura is declining more than 5 percent and DeNA is losing almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the M2 money stock in Japan was up 1.2 percent on year in November, the Bank of Japan said on Tuesday - standing at 1,255.0 trillion yen. That was in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous two months.

The M3 money stock rose an annual 0.7 percent for the third straight month, coming in at 1,605.7 trillion yen. The L money stock rose 3.2 percent on year to 2,184.6 trillion yen, up from 3.1 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 151 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong and South Korea, are higher by between 1.3 and 2.3 percent each, while Singapore is up 0.5 percent. New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Monday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulling back off last Friday's record closing highs.

The major averages finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow fell 240.59 points or 0.5 percent to 44,401.93, the Nasdaq slid 123.08 points or 0.6 percent to 19,736.69 and the S&P 500 declined 37.42 points or 0.6 percent to 6,052.85.

Meanwhile, European stocks moved mostly higher on the day. The French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.5 percent, although the German DAX Index bucked the uptrend and dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on geopolitical tensions and optimism that the Chinese central bank will loosen its monetary policy to boost economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed up $1.17 or 1.74 percent at $68.37 a barrel.