Asian Markets Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, boosted by Chinese property companies after the securities regulator in China lifted the ban on equity refinancing for listed property firms. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

Meanwhile, the supply chain concerns remain amid growing unrest in China due to widespread protests against the government's zero-Covid policy that led to lockdowns in several major cities.

The Australian stock market slightly higher on Tuesday after being in the red most of the morning session, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,200 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 7.80 points or 0.11 percent to 7,236.90, after hitting a low of 7,200.90 and a high of 7,238.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 5.40 points or 0.07 percent to 7,424.00. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent, BHP Group is edging up 0.4 percent and Mineral Resources is adding 1.5 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.1 percent. OZ Minerals is flat. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is edging down 0.5 percent, Santos is losing more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is declining almost 3 percent. Origin Energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent and Appen is declining more than 3 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.5 percent each. Zip is gaining more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is losing 2.5 percent, Newcrest Mining is down almost 2 percent and Gold Road Resources is slipping more than 1 percent, while Resolute Mining and Evolution Mining are declining almost 3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.3 percent. ANZ Banking is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.669 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling a tad below the 28,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with the losers led by exporters and technology stocks on supply chain concerns amid growing unrest in China.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,999.82, down 163.01 points or 0.58 percent, after hitting a low of 27,899.98 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is slipping almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing 1.5 percent, Screen Holdings is slipping almost 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.4 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, Mizuho Financial is adding almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.3 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower, with Sony losing almost 1 percent, Panasonic declining more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric slipping more than 1 percent, while Canon gaining almost 1 percent. In other news, shares in Eisai are plunging almost 10 percent after the pharma company reported a second death potentially linked to its experimental drug for Alzheimer's disease developed with Biogen.

Among the other major losers, Alps Alpine is losing more than 3 percent.

Conversely, Taiheiyo Cement and Sumitomo Osaka Cement are gaining more than 3 percent each.

In economic news, the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in October, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday. That missed expectations for 2.5 percent, although it was unchanged from the September reading. The job-to-applicant ratio was 1.35, in line with forecasts and up from 1.34 in the previous month. The participation rate ticked down to 62.8 percent, shy of expectations for 63.0 percent - which would have been unchanged from the September reading.

The value of retail sales in Japan was up 4.3 percent on year in October, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Tuesday - coming in at 13.082 trillion yen. That missed expectations for an increase of 4.5 percent following the upwardly revised 4.8 percent gain in September (originally 4.5 percent). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales rose 0.2 percent - slowing from 1.5 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 138 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is surging 3.3 percent and China is gaining 1.7 percent, while Singapore and New Zealand are up 1.0 and 1.1 percent, respectively. South Korea and Taiwan are up 0.4 and 0.2 percent, respectively. Malaysia and Indonesia are down 0.3 and 0.6 percent, respectively. On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session on Monday, largely offsetting the strong upward move seen last week. With the steep drop on the day, the Dow pulled back well off last Friday's seven-month closing high.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Dow tumbled 497.57 points or 1.5 percent to 33,849.46, the Nasdaq plunged 176.86 points or 1.6 percent to 11,049.50 and the S&P 500 dove 62.18 points or 1.5 percent to 3,963.94.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index tumbled 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices shook off early weakness and moved higher on Monday amid speculation that OPEC will seriously consider a new production cut at its meeting later this week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January gained $0.96 or 1.3 percent at $77.24 a barrel.