CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Tuesday, tracking the modest gains overnight on Wall Street. Investors are awaiting a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump to a joint session of Congress later in the day and will look for details on Trump's promises of tax reform, deregulation and infrastructure spending.
The Australian market is rising after three days of losses, following the modest gains overnight on Wall Street. Banks and oil stocks are among the leading gainers.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 20.70 points or 0.36 percent to 5,744.90, off a high of 5,752.50. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 17.30 points or 0.30 percent to 5,791.10.
The big four banks are advancing. ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are higher in a range of 0.5 percent to 1.2 percent.
Oil stocks are also higher as crude oil prices edged higher overnight. Oil Search is adding 0.3 percent, Woodside Petroleum is up 0.7 percent and Santos is rising more than 2 percent.
In the mining space, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals are advancing almost 1 percent each, while Rio Tinto is declining 0.5 percent.
Fortescue Metals has denied media reports that it made an offer of more than A$1 billion for Wesfarmers' Curragh coal mine in Queensland.
Gold miners are weak even as gold prices edged higher overnight. Newcrest Mining is losing almost 4 percent and Evolution Mining is down more than 5 percent.
Spotless Group reported a loss for the first half on lower revenues as well as writedowns and forecast a lower profit for the full year. Shares of the cleaning and catering business are falling almost 11 percent.
Bellamy Australia's chairman Rob Wooley has resigned from the board of the infant formula maker ahead of an extraordinary general meeting that could spark a board overhaul. The company's shares are in a trading halt.
Harvey Norman's shares are advancing more than 1 percent after the retailer reported a 39 percent increase in first-half profit, saying it is the best first-half results in its 30-year history.
Surfstitch Group lowered its full-year earnings outlook after reporting a loss for the half year that narrowed from the prior year. However, the online clothing retailer's shares are gaining almost 3 percent.
In economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that Australia had a seasonally adjusted current account deficit of A$3.853 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016. That beat forecasts for a deficit of A$4.0 billion following the A$10.2 billion shortfall in the three months prior.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said that private sector credit in Australia was up 0.2 percent on month in January. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent following the 0.7 percent increase in December.
The Housing Industry Association said that new home sales in Australia were down 2.2 percent on month in January. That follows the 0.2 percent increase in December.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7675, down from US$0.7692 on Monday.
The Japanese market is advancing, with the positive cues from Wall Street and a weaker yen lifting investor sentiment. Investors shrugged off data showing that Japan's industrial output in January fell for the first time in six months.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 137.71 points or 0.72 percent to 19,245.18, off a high of 19,267.99 earlier.
Among the other major exporters, Panasonic and Sony are adding more than 1 percent each, while Canon is higher by 0.4 percent. Toshiba is losing 2 percent, while SoftBank is up 0.4 percent.
Automaker Toyota is adding almost 1 percent and Honda is rising more than 1 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is up 0.4 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is rising 0.2 percent.
In the oil space, Inpex is rising more than 2 percent and JX Holdings is gaining more than 3 percent.
India's Tata Group has agreed to pay Japan's mobile carrier NTT Docomo about $1.17 billion in connection with end of an alliance in the Indian market. NTT Docomo's shares are edging down less than 0.1 percent.
Takata Corp. pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and agreed to pay a total of $1 billion in criminal penalties stemming from the company's conduct in relation to sales of defective airbag inflators. Shares of the airbag maker are down 0.2 percent.
Among the other major gainers, IHI Corp. is rising 5 percent, Meidensha Corp. is gaining 4 percent and Unitika is higher by more than 3 percent.
On the flip side, Nissan Chemical Industries is declining almost 2 percent, TDK Corp. is down 1.7 percent and Asahi Group is lower by almost 1 percent.
On the economic front, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that industrial output in Japan fell 0.8 percent on month in January, on Tuesday. That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent following the 0.7 percent gain in December.
The METI also said that retail sales in Japan were up a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on month in January. That beat expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent after dropping an upwardly revised 1.6 percent in December.
Japan also will see January results for housing starts and construction orders, plus February figures for small business confidence today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 112 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai, South Korea, New Zealand and Indonesia are modestly higher. Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia are lower. The markets in Taiwan remain closed on Tuesday for the Peace Memorial Day holiday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed modestly higher on Monday after seeing initial weakness, amid optimism about pro-business policies under President Donald Trump, who is due to speak to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
The Dow crept up 15.68 points or 0.1 percent to 20,837.44, the Nasdaq rose 16.59 points or 0.3 percent to 5,861.90 and the S&P 500 edged up 2.39 points or 0.1 percent to 2,369.73.
European stocks turned in a lackluster performance on Monday. While the French CAC 40 Index closed nearly flat, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index edged up by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil futures were slightly higher Monday, holding near yearly highs amid a tug of war on oil supplies between OPEC and the U.S. WTI crude oil rose $0.06 to $54.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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