CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with South Korean markets leading regional declines amid weakness in semiconductor stocks on concerns about heavy spending over artificial intelligence. Heightened concerns of crude oil-related supply disruption and global inflationary threats continue to sour market sentiment. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.
Traders continue to dissect the consequences of the massive economic blockade launched by the U.S. against Iran as well as the threat of secondary sanctions on its 'enablers.' This is seen as an effort to pressure Tehran back to the negotiating table and force the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US was targeting Iran's financial connections globally and urging other countries to cease economic ties with Tehran.
The Australian stock market is notably higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 9,150 level, with gains in gold miners, financial and technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 46.90 points or 0.52 percent to 9,150.00, after touching a high of 9,179.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 40.10 points or 0.43 percent to 9,356.80. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.
Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is adding more than 1 percent and BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent and Fortescue is edging down 0.5 percent.
Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent and Santos is edging down 0.2 percent, while Origin Energy is adding more than 1 percent. Woodside Energy is flat.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.3 percent, Zip is gaining almost 4 percent, Xero is adding almost 2 percent, Appen is up almost 3 percent and WiseTech Global is advancing more than 3 percent.
Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Newmont is adding almost 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is edging up 0.4 percent. Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.4 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Westpac and National Australia Bank are adding almost 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.3 percent.
In other news, shares in ARB Corporation are soaring more than 17 percent as it kept its final dividend steady at 35 cents a share despite net profit and sales revenue falling in the financial year.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will on Tuesday release the minutes from its August 11 monetary policy meeting. At the meeting, the RBA kept its benchmark lending rate steady at 4.35 percent following 25 basis point hikes in February, March and May.
The board said it remains focused on ensuring that high inflation does not become embedded, although CPI is not expected to return to around the midpoint of the target range until late 2027
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.715 on Tuesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading slightly higher on Tuesday after opening in the red, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 moving up to near the 65,600 level, with gains in index heavyweights, and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 65,598.68, up 70.59 points or 0.11 percent, after hitting a low of 64,609.47 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is down more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is declining more than 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Panasonic is declining almost 2 percent. Sony is gaining almost 1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Furukawa Electric is jumping more than 7 percent, Fujikura is surging more than 6 percent, Ibiden is advancing almost 4 percent and East Japan Railway is gaining more than 3 percent, while MS&AD Insurance and Takashimaya are adding almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Tokyo Electric Power and Yokohama Rubber are declining almost 4 percent each, while Mitsubishi Materials is losing more than 3 percent. Dowa Holdings and Disco are down almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 159 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is down 1.9 percent, while China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. New Zealand and Singapore are up 0.7 and 0.1 percent, respectively. Malaysia and Indonesia are closed for Prophet Muhammad's Birthday.
On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Monday but largely maintained a negative bias, after coming under pressure early in the session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a notable decline on the day, ending the session at its lowest closing level in three weeks.
The Nasdaq ended the day off its early lows but still closed down 200.26 points or 0.8 percent at 25,980.19. The S&P 500 also fell 21.51 points or 0.3 percent to 7,652.86. Meanwhile, the narrower Dow bucked the downtrend and rose 140.15 points or 0.3 percent to 53,417.16
The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices slumped on Monday after the U.S. unleashed a massive economic offensive against Iran to compel the nation to strike a deal. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $2.13 or 2.45 percent at $84.93 per barrel.
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