CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Tuesday despite the weak cues overnight from Wall Street amid lingering worries about a global economic slowdown. The Japanese market recovered after a weak start and is modestly higher.
Investors now look ahead to the vote on British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal later in the day. It is widely expected that May's Brexit proposal will face a certain defeat in parliament.
The Australian market is modestly higher in subdued trade. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 8.90 points or 0.15 percent to 5,782.30, slightly off a high of 5,786.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is rising 8.00 points or 0.14 percent to 5,841.20. Australian stocks gave up early gains to end roughly flat on Monday.
The big four banks are higher. ANZ Banking, Westpac, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are advancing in a range of 0.2 percent to 0.8 percent.
Shares in Hub24 are gaining more than 6 percent after the investment and superannuation platform announced record net inflows of A$1.5 billion during the December quarter, up 167.4 percent on the prior corresponding period.
Oil stocks are also mostly higher despite a 2 percent fall in crude oil prices. Woodside Petroleum is adding 0.7 percent and Santos is rising 0.3 percent, while Oil Search is down 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the major miners are mostly weak. Rio Tinto is edging lower by 0.1 percent and Fortescue Metals is losing almost 1 percent, while BHP Group is adding 0.2 percent.
Gold miners are mixed even as gold prices edged higher. Evolution Mining is advancing more than 1 percent, while Newcrest Mining is declining 0.7 percent.
Adult education provider Navitas has received a sweetened A$2.09 billion buyout offer from a consortium of its founder Rod Jones and private equity firm BGH. Shares of Navitas are gaining more than 12 percent.
The Reject Shop said it expects first-half profit to be in line with its earlier guidance, but the company's bidder Allensford Group has demanded it disclose to shareholders the makeup of its sales performance over the critical holiday period. The discount retailer's shares are advancing more than 1 percent.
Coca-Cola Amatil's shares are losing more than 1 percent despite the company announcing plans to replace plastic straws and stirrers in Australia with fully recyclable biodegradable products over the next two months.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is higher against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday. The local currency was quoted at $0.7197, down from $0.7186 on Monday.
The Japanese market, which resumed trading after a holiday on Monday, recovered after a weak start and is modestly higher.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 76.66 points or 0.38 percent to 20,436.36, after falling to a low of 20,204.43 earlier. The Japanese market was closed for the 'Coming of Age Day' holiday on Monday.
The major exporters are mixed despite a slightly weaker yen. Panasonic is losing almost 2 percent and Canon is down 0.5 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is rising 2 percent and Sony is advancing more than 1 percent.
In the tech sector, Tokyo Electron is rising almost 3 percent and Advantest is higher by more than 1 percent.
Among the major automakers, Honda and Toyota are edging higher by less than 0.1 percent each. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is rising more than 1 percent.
In the oil space, Inpex is declining almost 1 percent and Japan Petroleum is unchanged after crude oil prices fell 2 percent overnight.
Among the other major gainers, Olympus is rising almost 13 percent and Hitachi is gaining more than 4 percent. Toto, Shiseido Co. and Nippon Express are all higher by more than 2 percent each.
On the flip side, Pacific Metals is losing more than 5 percent, while SoftBank and Asahi Group are both declining more than 2 percent each.
On the economic front, the Bank of Japan that the M2 money stock in Japan was up 2.4 percent on year in December, coming in at 1,014.2 trillion yen. That was in line with expectations following the 2.3 percent gain in November.
The M3 money stock climbed an annual 2.1 percent to 1,011.9 trillion yen - unchanged and in line with forecasts. The L money stock was unchanged at 1.9 percent, standing at 1,790.6 trillion yen.
Japan will also release December numbers for bankruptcies and machine tool orders today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 108 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore are all advancing more than 1 percent each, while Taiwan is higher by almost 1 percent. Shanghai, New Zealand and Indonesia are also higher. Bucking the trend, Malaysia is edging lower.
On Wall Street, stocks climbed off worst levels, but closed lower on Monday. Concerns about the global economic outlook contributed to the initial weakness on Wall Street following the release of disappointing Chinese trade data. A lack of major U.S. economic data also kept some traders on the sidelines along with uncertainty about the impact of the ongoing government shutdown.
The Dow fell 86.11 points or 0.4 percent to 23,909.84, the Nasdaq slid 65.56 points or 0.9 percent to 6,905.92 and the S&P 500 dropped 13.65 points or 0.5 percent to 2,582.61.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures drifted down sharply on Monday, as worries about energy demand resurfaced on disappointing trade data from China. WTI crude for February declined $1.08 or 2.1 percent to close at $50.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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