CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Australian and the Japanese markets hitting record all-time highs, as the U.S. and China agreed to extend their tariff truce for another 90 days. Optimism about the US Fed cutting interest rate at its next meeting is also aiding market sentiment. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.
Traders also seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of several closely watched economic reports in the coming days, including report on US consumer price inflation in the month of July later in the day that could impact the outlook for interest rates.
Ahead of the release of the data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating an 86.5 percent chance the Fed will lower interest rates by a quarter point next month.
The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Tuesday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,850 level to fresh all-time high, with gains in financial and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and technology stocks.
Expectations of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia later in the day and optimism over a renewed US-China trade truce is aiding market sentiment.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 15.60 points or 0.18 percent to 8,860.40, after hitting a low of 8,828.80 and a fresh all-time high of 8,867.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 12.20 points or 0.13 percent to 9,129.80. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent, while Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent, Fortescue is declining almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.5 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Beach energy is advancing almost 1 percent. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.3 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 3 percent and Xero is declining more than 2 percent, while WiseTech Global and Zip are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Appen is gaining more than 2 percent.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star resources is declining almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is slipping more than 3 percent, while Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are losing more than 1 percent each. Newmont is edging up 0.4 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding more than 2 percent.
In other news, shares in Life360 are soaring more than 8 percent after reporting strong revenue growth in the second quarter.
Shares in SGH are tumbling more than 10 percent after it lifted total dividends by 17 percent following a $486 million profit in the past fiscal year.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting this morning and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is expected lower its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to 3.60 percent from 3.85 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.652 on Tuesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous five sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 surging 2.5 percent to well above the 42,800 level to record all-time highs, with gains across all sectors led by index heavyweights, technology and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 42,849.67, up 1,029.19 points or 2.46 percent, after touching a record all-time high of 42,867.69 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Friday ahead of the holiday on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging more than 6 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 4 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are adding more than 2 percent each.
SoftBank Group committed about $32.7 billion to OpenAI and agreed to acquire chip designer Ampere Computing for $5.6 billion.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining 1.5 percent, Advantest is surging more than 7 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 3 percent.
The major exporters are mostly higher. Mitsubishi Electric is adding 1.5 percent and Sony is up almost 1 percent, while Panasonic and Canon are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.
Among the other major gainers, Mitsui Mining & Smelting is skyrocketing almost 14 percent and Sharp is soaring more than 8 percent, while CyberAgent and Inpex are surging almost 7 percent each. Lasertec is jumping more than 6 percent and Fujikura is gaining almost 5 percent, while Rakuten, Isetan Mitsukoshi, Disco, Taisei and Mercari are adding almost 4 percent each.
Conversely, Nippon Express is plunging more than 11 percent, Toppan Holdings is tumbling more than 9 percent, Olympus is plunging more than 6 percent and Idemitsu Kosan is losing almost 3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.4 and 0.9 percent each, while New Zealand and Singapore are down 0.2 and 0.3 percent, respectively. Hong Kong and Taiwan are relatively flat.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Monday following the strong upward move seen in the previous week. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
The major averages eventually ended the day in negative territory. While the slid 200.52 points or 0.5 percent to 43,975.09, the Nasdaq fell 64.62 points or 0.3 percent to 21,385.40 and the S&P 500 dipped 16.00 points or 0.3 percent to 6,373.45.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent.
Crude oil prices edged higher on Monday as Russia shrugged off the U.S. deadline to end its war with Ukraine or face sanctions. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.17 or 0.27 percent at $64.05 per barrel.
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