CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Tuesday following the overnight rally in U.S. as well as European markets and on optimism about a new U.S. coronavirus relief bill after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a new package is still possible. Nevertheless, investors remained cautious ahead of the first U.S. presidential debate set to take place later today.
The Australian market is advancing following the overnight rally on Wall Street and on higher commodity prices. Optimism about U.S. fiscal stimulus also lifted the market.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 36.20 points or 0.61 percent to 5,988.50, after touching a high of 5,995.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 40.20 points or 0.66 percent to 6,175.10. Australian stocks closed modestly lower in choppy trading on Monday.
In the tech sector, Afterpay is rising more than 2 percent, Appen is advancing more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Westpac, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are higher in a range of 0.4 percent to 1.1 percent.
Among oil stocks, Santos is rising almost 2 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Santos are advancing almost 1 percent each after crude oil prices rose overnight.
Meanwhile, the major miners are mostly lower. Rio Tinto is declining almost 1 percent and BHP Group is edging down 0.1 percent, while Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 1 percent.
Gold miners are also lower even as gold prices rebounded overnight. Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining are down 0.6 percent each.
According to reports, Dreamworld's parent company Ardent Leisure was fined A$3.6 million after pleading guilty to safety charges over the Thunder River Rapids ride tragedy in 2016. However, shares of Ardent Leisure are gaining almost 8 percent.
The Japanese market is declining despite the overnight rallies on Wall Street and European markets. Investors remained cautious as they await the first U.S. presidential debate set to take place later today.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 129.04 points or 0.55 percent to 23,382.58, after touching a low of 23,347.64 earlier. Japanese stocks closed higher on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is advancing more than 2 percent and Fast Retailing is adding 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major exporters are mostly lower despite a weaker yen. Canon is declining more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is lower by almost 1 percent and Panasonic is down 0.3 percent, while Sony is adding 0.6 percent.
In the financial sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is lower by almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down 0.5 percent.
Among automakers, Toyota Motor is declining more than 1 percent, while Honda is adding 0.2 percent. In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum is lower by almost 1 percent, while Inpex is adding almost 1 percent.
In the tech sector, Tokyo Electron is rising more than 2 percent and Advantest is higher by more than 1 percent.
The Nikkei newspaper reported that Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. plans to take its wireless carrier unit NTT Docomo private for 4 trillion yen, or $38 billion. Share of Nippon Telegraph are down almost 1 percent, while NTT Docomo is rising more than 2 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Hino Motors is rising more than 4 percent, TDK Corp. is gaining almost 3 percent and Nissan Motor is advancing more than 2 percent.
Conversely, Toyobo Co. is losing almost 5 percent and Rakuten is lower by almost 4 percent, while Trend Micro and Nichirei Corp. are declining more than 3 percent each.
In economic news, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said that overall consumer prices in the Tokyo area were up 0.2 percent on year in September. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the August reading.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, slipped an annual 0.2 percent. That exceeded forecasts for a drop of 0.3 percent, which also would have been unchanged from the previous month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 105 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are also higher, while New Zealand and Hong Kong are lower. Taiwan is little changed.
On Wall Street, stocks closed sharply higher on Monday as traders seemed to shrug off recent concerns about a surge in coronavirus cases and uncertainty about the U.S. presidential election. The markets may also have benefited from optimism about a new coronavirus bill after House Speaker Nancy Pelolsi said a new package is still possible. House Democrats plan to unveil a new $2.4 trillion coronavirus relief bill.
The Dow jumped 410.10 points or 1.5 percent to 27,584.06, the Nasdaq spiked 203.96 points or 1.9 percent to 11,117.53 and the S&P 500 surged up 53.14 points or 1.6 percent to 3,351.60.
The major European markets also moved sharply higher on Monday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 1.5 percent, Germany's DAX climbed 3.2 percent and France's CAC 40 gained 2.4 percent.
Crude oil prices rose on Monday and the most active futures contract ended notably higher, despite lingering worries about outlook for fuel demand amid the re-imposition of mobility curbs in some countries due to a surge in coronavirus cases. WTI crude for November ended up $0.35 or about 0.9 percent at $40.60 a barrel.
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