Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautiously optimistic on the outlook for markets after the U.S.-China temporary trade truce. They now stay focused on the outcome of US trade negotiations with India and Japan. Some traders also locked in profits following the recent upside in the markets. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

China also cut its benchmark lending rates for the first time in 7 months to boost its struggling economy amid rising trade tensions.

The Australian stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,300 level, with gains across most sectors led by technology, mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 48.40 points or 0.58 percent to 8,343.50, after touching a day's high of 8,364.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 48.90 points or 0.57 percent to 8,573.70. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.4 percent and Mineral Resources is gaining almost 3 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are adding almost 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy, Beach energy and Woodside Energy are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Santos is adding more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Zip is adding more than 1 percent, WiseTech Global is up almost 1 percent and Appen is surging almost 5 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent, Northern Star resources is adding almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing almost 3 percent, while Newmont is losing more than 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is adding more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is advancing more than 2 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each.

In other news, shares in TechnologyOne are soaring more than 12 percent after lifting its interim dividend 30 percent and reporting strong revenue growth in the first half.

Share in Kogan.com are tumbling almost 6 percent after telling investors it did not expect online retailer Mighty Ape to return to profitable trading performance until 2026 following an issue with the website platform upgrade.

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 widely expected to trim its benchmark lending rate to 3.85 percent from the current 4.10 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.644 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday, snapping a four-session losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 moving up to near the 37,800 level, with gains across all sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,691.56, up 192.93 points or 0.51 percent, after touching a high of 37,921.81 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 1 percent and Toyota is gaining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent, Screen Holdings is adding more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing more than 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is adding more than 2 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Canon is edging up 0.1 percent, Sony are gaining more than 3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 1 percent, while Panasonic is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among the other major gainers, SMC and Yaskawa Electric are surging more than 7 percent each, while Furukawa Electric and Fanuc are gaining almost 5 percent each. Nissan Chemical, Ebara, Mazda Motor and Taiyo Yuden are adding almost 5 percent each, while Fujikura and Socionext are rising more than 3 percent each. Lasertec, Disco, Sumitomo Electric Industries and UBE are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Toray Industries is declining almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 144 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each, while Malaysia is bucking the trend and is down 0.3 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure early in the session on Monday but regained ground over the course of the trading day. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session before ending the day modestly higher.

The Dow fell more than 300 points in early trading but ended the day up 137.33 points or 0.3 percent at 42,792.07. The S&P 500 also inched up 5.22 points or 0.1 percent to 5,963.60, while the Nasdaq crept up 4.36 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 19,215.46.

The major European markets also moved to the upside over the course of the session after seeing early weakness. The German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices saw mild upside on Monday after Goldman Sachs raised its outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose $0.17 of 0.27 percent to $62.66 per barrel.