Asian Markets Mostly Lower On Global Cues

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, amid the geopolitical worries surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war and the U.S.-China chip war. The sign of fresh COVID outbreaks in China and fresh lockdowns and travel restrictions is also weighing on market sentiment. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

Washington published a set of export controls that limit companies selling advanced computing semiconductors and manufacturing equipment to China, threatening to worsen trade ties between the world's two largest economies.

The concerns about rising interest rates and their likely impact on global economic growth continued to weigh on sentiment, prompting investors to stay cautious about the near term outlook for the markets.

The Australian stock market slightly higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving to nearly the 6,700 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with strong gains in mining stocks amid a spike in metal prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 5.50 points or 0.08 percent to 6,673.30, after touching a high of 6,712.50 and low of 6,659.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 2.00 points or 0.03 percent to 6,874.00. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals and BHP Group are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is adding more than 2 percent and OZ Minerals is up more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are lower. Beach energy is losing almost 2 percent, Santos is down more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is declining 1.5 percent. Origin Energy is flat. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block, WiseTech Global, Xero and Appen are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Zip is losing almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 2 percent. Newcrest Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are adding almost 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.4 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.3 percent and ANZ Banking is advancing almost 1 percent.

In economic news, the total number of building permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 28.1 percent on month in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday - coming in at 17,497. That follows the 18.2 percent decline in July. On a yearly basis, approvals for houses fell 14.4 percent and approvals for dwellings excluding houses dipped 1.2 percent and overall approvals were down 9.5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.627 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Tuesday after the long weekend, extending the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 slipping more than 600 points to below the 26,600 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, amid heightened geopolitical tensions involving Russia-Ukraine and the U.S.-China and rising risk of a global recession.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 26,480.97, down 635.14 points or 2.34 percent, after hitting a low of 26,446.28 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday ahead of the holiday on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is flat.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 4 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are declining more than 4 percent each. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.4 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are lower, with Sony losing almost 4 percent, Panasonic down more than 1 percent, Canon slipping more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric edging down 0.3 percent. Among the other major losers, Nidec is soaring more than 7 percent, while SMC, Hitachi Construction Machinery and Nikon are surging almost 5 percent. Mitsubishi Motors and Minebea Mitsumi are advancing more than 4 percent, while Seiko Epson and Yaskawa Electric are gaining almost 4 percent each. TDK, Keyence and Fanuc are adding more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Tokyo Gas is gaining almost 4 percent and Takashimaya is adding almost 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan posted a current account surplus of 58.9 billion yen in August, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday - down 96.1 percent on year. That missed forecasts for a surplus of 121.8 billion yen and was down from 229 billion yen in July. Exports were up 23.7 percent on year at 8.059 trillion yen, while imports jumped an annual 52.9 percent to 10.550 trillion yen for a trade deficit of 2.490 trillion yen. The capital account saw a deficit of 20.7 billion yen, while the financial account had a surplus of 557.2 billion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 145 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is plunging 3.6 percent and South Korea is slipping 2.3 percent, while Hong Kong and Indonesia are down 1.4 and 1.5 percent, respectively. Malaysia is losing 0.4 percent. New Zealand, China and Singapore are higher by between 0.1 and 0.3 percent each. On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Monday, extending recent losses, as worries about interest rate hikes and slowing growth continued to weigh on sentiment. Technology stocks fell on Biden administration's decision to impose export controls on China.

The major averages all ended in negative territory. The Dow ended with a loss of 93.91 points or 0.32 percent at 29,202.88. The S&P 500 settled at 3,612.39, losing 27.27 points or 0.75 percent, while the Nasdaq ended with a loss of 110.30 points or 1.04 percent at 10,542.10, the lowest close in over 2 years.

The major European markets also closed weak on the day, with The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 both ending lower by 0.45 percent, and Germany's DAX settling flat.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Monday as soft data from China raised concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $1.51 or 1.6 percent at 91.13 a barrel.