CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, amid easing trade war tensions between the US and China after the two superpowers began high-level trade talks in London, with negotiations expected to continue on Tuesday. The tariff war between the two countries has already rattled the global economy. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.
Traders were also looking ahead to the release of some key US economic data in the coming days, including closely watched reports on consumer price and producer price inflation.
The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,550 level, with gains in iron ore miners, financial, technology and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in gold miners.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 59.20 points or 0.70 percent to 8,574.90, after touching a high of 8,584.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 58.60 points or 0.67 percent to 8,800.50. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Friday ahead of a holiday on Monday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent, while Fortescue Metals is adding almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is surging almost 6 percent. Rio Tinto is flat.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are advancing almost 1 percent each. Beach energy is edging down 0.4 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is advancing more than 3 percent and Zip is surging more than 7 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining almost 1 percent each. Appen is losing almost 2 percent.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining and Newmont are losing almost 4 percent each, while Northern Star resources and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Resolute Mining is declining almost 3 percent.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is adding more than 1 percent.
In other news, shares in Monash IVF are plummeting almost 24 percent after reporting its second IVF embryo incident.
In economic news, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index rose 0.5 percent month-on-month to 92.6 in June, its fourth gain this year, driven by the rate cut in May and signs of easing inflation. However, this is a sharp slowdown from the 2.2 percent gain in May.
Meanwhile, Australia's NAB Business Confidence Index rose to 2 in May 2025 from -1 in April, turning positive for the first time since January and marking its highest level in four months.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.652 on Tuesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 moving up to near the 38,500 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks. Financial stocks were the only weak spot.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,473.97, up 385.40 points or 1.01 percent, after touching a high of 38,476.18 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 3 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.4 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is losing more than 1 percent.
The major exporters are mostly higher. Canon is gaining almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.1 percent and Panasonic is advancing almost 2 percent, while Sony is edging down 0.5 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Shiseido and Minebea Mitsumi are gaining more than 4 percent each, while BayCurrent, Nidec and Ricoh are adding almost 4 percent each. Sumitomo Pharma and Renesas Electronics are rising more than 3 percent each, while Seiko Epson, Ebara, Sumco and Yaskawa Electric are advancing almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, there are no other major losers.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 145 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia are up between 1.0 and 1.8 percent each, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each. Singapore is relatively flat.
On Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Monday following the strong upward move seen during last Friday's session. Despite the choppy trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached a new three-month closing high.
The major averages ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Dow edged down 1.11 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 42,761.76, the S&P 500 inched up 5.52 points or 0.1 percent to 6,005.88 and the Nasdaq rose 61.28 points or 0.3 percent to 19,591.24.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.
Crude oil prices rose on Monday due to hopes sparked by US-China trade talks and that the nearing summer travel season may boost energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery settled at $65.29 per barrel, up 71 cents, the highest since April 3.
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