CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Tuesday following the overnight recovery on Wall Street and as no fresh escalation in tensions were reported from the Middle East. Investors are optimistic that the geopolitical tensions will not have a major impact on the global economy. Crude oil and gold prices retreated after strong gains in the overnight session.
The Australian market is advancing following the positive cues from Wall Street. Tech, oil and banking stocks are among the major gainers.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 61.10 points or 0.91 percent to 6,796.80, after touching a high of 6804.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is higher by 58.20 points or 0.85 percent to 6,915.60. Australian stocks closed marginally higher on Monday.
Among tech stocks, Appen is gaining more than 2 percent, while Xero and Wisetech Global are higher by more than 1 percent each.
In the banking space, ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking are up in a range of 1.0 percent to 1.2 percent.
Oil stocks are also higher after crude oil prices rose for the ninth straight session overnight. Santos is rising almost 2 percent, Oil Search is advancing more than 1 percent and Woodside Petroleum is adding almost 1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major miners are lower. Fortescue Metals is losing almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto is declining 0.5 percent and BHP is edging down 0.1 percent.
Gold miners are also weak despite safe-haven gold prices rising to a seven-year high overnight. Evolution Mining is lower by more than 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is losing almost 2 percent.
In economic news, Australia will see January results for the consumer confidence index from Westpac Bank today.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday. The local currency was quoted at $0.6934, compared to $0.6938 on Monday.
The Japanese market is rising after U.S. stocks closed higher overnight and the safe-haven yen weakened.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is higher by 254.19 points or 1.10 percent to 23,459.05, after touching a high of 23,477.24 earlier. The Japanese market closed notably lower on Monday amid a broad-selloff as investors returned to their desks after the New Year holidays.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp. is rising more than 1 percent while Fast Retailing is down 0.3 percent.
The major exporters are higher on a weaker yen. Panasonic and Sony is rising more than 2 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are advancing more than 1 percent each.
Among auto stocks, Honda Motor and Toyota Motor are advancing almost 2 percent each. In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum is higher by almost 1 percent, while Inpex is down 0.1 percent after crude oil prices rose for a ninth straight session overnight.
Tech stocks are modestly lower. Advantest is losing 0.2 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Fujifilm Holdings and Olympus Corp. are higher by more than 4 percent each, while Yokogawa Electric and GS Yuasa are gaining more than 3 percent each.
On the flip side, Z Holdings and J Front Retailing are losing more than 1 percent each.
On the economic front, the Bank of Japan said that the monetary base in Japan was up 3.2 percent on year in December, coming in at 512.776 trillion yen. That's down from 3.3 percent in November.
Japan will also see final December numbers for the services and composite indexes from Jibun Bank today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 108 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia are also higher, while Taiwan and New Zealand are lower.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Monday after seeing initial weakness due to rising geopolitical tensions. Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders seem optimistic that the bluster will not amount to much and that tensions will eventually subside without a major impact on the global economy.
The Dow rose 68.50 points or 0.2 percent to 28,703.38, the Nasdaq advanced 50.70 points or 0.6 percent to 9,071.47 and the S&P 500 climbed 11.43 points or 0.4 percent to 3,246.28.
The major European markets moved to the downside on Monday. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index dropped by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday, extending gains to a ninth successive session amid concerns about possible supply disruptions due to an escalation in tensions in the Middle East. WTI crude for February ended up $0.22 or about 0.4 percent at $63.27 a barrel.
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