CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Tuesday after Wall Street pared sharp earlier losses to close modestly lower overnight. Meanwhile, the Japanese and South Korean markets, which resumed trading after holidays, are lower.
Analysts described the tweets from U.S. President Donald Trump regarding additional tariffs on Chinese goods as a negotiating tactic. Indications that a Chinese delegation will travel to Washington later this week for another round of trade talks also boosted investor sentiment.
The Australian market is rising despite the negative cues from Wall Street. Mining stocks and banks are among the major gainers. Investors now look ahead to the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision due later in the day.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is advancing 42.80 points or 0.68 percent to 6,326.50, after touching a high of 6,328.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is adding 41.30 points or 0.65 percent to 6,411.20. Australian shares closed lower on Monday.
In the mining space, Fortescue Metals is higher by almost 6 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 3 percent and BHP Group is advancing more than 1 percent.
Gold miners are also higher after gold prices rose overnight. Evolution Mining is adding 0.6 percent and Newcrest Mining is rising 0.4 percent.
The big four banks are advancing. Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are higher in a range of 0.5 percent to 1.1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower despite an increase in crude oil prices overnight. Santos is declining 0.4 percent and Oil Search is edging down 0.1 percent, while Woodside Petroleum is adding 0.4 percent.
Shares of GrainCorp are falling almost 7 percent after suitor Long-Term Asset Partners or LTAP withdrew it's A$2.38 billion takeover bid that it made in December 2018 for the bulk grain handler.
On the economic front, the Reserve Bank of Australia will meet in Sydney today to decide on interest rates amid speculation that the central bank could cut the official cash rate to a record low of 1.25 percent today.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is slightly higher against the U.S dollar on Tuesday. The local currency was quoted at $0.6994, up from $0.6991 on Monday.
The Japanese market, which resumed trading after a ten-day holiday, is notably lower while the safe-haven yen strengthened following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street on rising U.S.-China trade tensions.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 224.25 points or 1.01 percent to 22,034.48, after touching a low of 21,965.60 earlier.
The major exporters are mostly lower on a stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 4 percent, Canon is declining almost 1 percent and Panasonic is down 0.5 percent, while Sony is gaining almost 6 percent.
Among tech stocks, Advantest is losing 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining more than 1 percent. Komatsu and Fanuc, industrial machinery companies with significant exposure to China, are losing more than 9 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
In the auto space, Toyota is down more than 1 percent and Honda is declining almost 1 percent. Among the major banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is lower by 1 more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down 0.2 percent.
In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum is lower by more than 3 percent and Inpex is losing almost 3 percent despite an increase in crude oil prices overnight.
Among the other major gainers, Daiichi Sankyo is rising 5 percent, NEC Corp. is higher by more than 4 percent and Hitachi is gaining more than 3 percent.
On the flip side, Taiyo Yuden is losing more than 14 percent, while Chiyoda Corp. and Toto Ltd. are lower by 9 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 110 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore, Shanghai, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia are also higher, while South Korea is lower.
On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Monday, but well off their worst levels. An initial sell-off came after President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports in a series of posts on Twitter on Sunday. Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as analysts described the tweets from Trump as a negotiating tactic. Indications the Chinese delegation still plans to travel to Washington later this week for another round of trade talks also offset the negative sentiment.
After falling by more than 470 points, the Dow ended the day down 66.47 points or 0.3 percent at 26,438.48. The Nasdaq slid 40.71 points or 0.5 percent to 8,123.29 and the S&P 500 fell 13.17 points or 0.5 percent to 2,932.47.
The European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on Monday, although the U.K. markets were closed. The French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index slumped by 1.2 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices showed a significant turnaround over the course of the trading session on Monday, climbing firmly into positive territory after seeing initial weakness. WTI crude for June delivery rose $0.31 to $62.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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