CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain concerned about the escalating conflict in the Middle East. They also used the initial sell-off as an opportunity to pick up stocks at reduced levels. The conflict has led to a spike in crude oil prices that has renewed concerns about inflation and the US Fed leaving interest rates higher for longer. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.
The sharp increase by the price of crude oil comes after the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran over the weekend, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The conflict has seen Iran retaliating by launching waves of drones and missiles on countries across the Middle East, including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar. Israel has now launched airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon following projectile fire from Lebanese territory into northern Israel.
The Australian stock market is trading sharply lower on Tuesday, snapping a four-session winning streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 9,100 level, with weakness in mining and energy stocks partially offset by gains in technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 121.50 points or 1.32 percent to 9,079.40, after hitting a low of 9,067.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 134.60 points or 1.43 percent to 9,296.00. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.1 percent and Fortescue is tumbling almost 5 percent, while Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are losing almost 1 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is slipping more than 4 percent and Woodside Energy is declining more than 1 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are losing almost 1 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are advancing almost 2 percent each, while Zip is edging up 0.3 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent. Xero is edging down 0.3 percent.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is declining almost 4 percent and Genesis Minerals is down more than 1 percent, while Northern Star resources and Newmont are losing more than 3 percent each. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 2 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent and Westpac is losing almost 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 percent each.
In other news, shares in Magellan Financial Group are skyrocketing almost 20 percent after it completed a $130 mln institutional capital raise for the proposed merger with Barrenjoey Capital Partners.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.710 on Tuesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Tuesday, extending the sharp losses in the previous sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 56,750 level, with weakness in exporters and automaker stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 56,727.27, down 1,329.97 points or 2.29 percent, after hitting a low of 56,622.23 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 2 percent and Toyota is tumbling more than 5 percent.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.1 percent and Advantest is adding more than 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is losing almost 2 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.5 percent and Mizuho Financial is losing almost 2 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.1 percent.
The major exporters are lower. Mitsubishi Electric is down almost 2 percent and Canon is losing more than 1 percent, while Panasonic and Sony are declining more than 4 percent each.
Among the other major losers, Sumitomo Pharma is tumbling almost 14 percent, while TDK and Hino Motors are sliding almost 6 percent each. CyberAgent is declining more than 5 percent, while Sumitomo Chemical and Japan Airlines are losing almost 5 percent each. ENEOS Holdings is down more than 4 percent, while Mazda Motor, Aeon, Nissui, Kuraray and Kao are slipping almost 4 percent each.
Conversely, Resonac Holdings is jumping almost 8 percent and Furukawa Electric is surging more than 5 percent, while Fujikura and Mitsubishi are advancing almost 4 percent each. Sumitomo Electric Industries is gaining almost 3 percent.
In economic news, the jobless rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent in January, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday. That was above expectations for 2.6 percent, which would have been unchanged from the December reading. The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.18 - missing forecasts for 1.19 and down from 1.20 in the previous month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 157-yen range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are tumbling 3.7 and 1.6 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China and Hong Kong are lower by between 0.2 and 0.9 percent each. Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.5 and 0.9 percent each.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower at the start of trading on Monday in reaction to the conflict in the Middle East but showed a substantial recovery over the course of the session. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session before eventually ending the day narrowly mixed.
After tumbling by as much as 1.6 percent, the Nasdaq rose 80.65 points or 0.4 percent to 22,748.86. The S&P 500 also inched up 2.74 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,881.62, while the narrower Dow dipped 73.14 points or 0.2 percent to 48,904.78.
Meanwhile, the major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index dove 2.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index tumbled 2.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 1.2 percent.
Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Monday amid concerns about supply disruptions due to the conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $4.08 or 6.1 percent to $71.10 a barrel.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
