CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as elevated crude oil prices amid ongoing hostilities in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, heightened global inflation concerns and pushed global yields higher. Iran continues to assert its control over the Strait of Hormuz, with ships being attacked more frequently than at any point in the war. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.
Iran-backed Houthi militants claimed fresh attacks across Saudi Arabia. Russia and Ukraine have also resumed attacks on energy infrastructure.
Amid all this, the US Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged next week, with markets pricing in roughly a 94 percent probability of a rate hike in December.
The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,800 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and financial stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 63.70 points or 0.72 percent to 8,782.00, after hitting a low of 8,747.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 65.40 points or 0.73 percent to 8,910.30. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.
Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is down almost 1 percent, BHP Group is losing more than 2 percent and Fortescue is edging down 0.3 percent, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent, while Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are down almost 1 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 2 percent and Zip is down almost 1 percent. WiseTech Global and Xero are adding almost 1 percent each, while Appen is gaining more than 1 percent.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are declining more than 3 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is losing more than 2 percent, Genesis Minerals is slipping almost 3 percent and Newmont is down almost 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking down more than 1 percent, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are losing more than 1 percent each. National Australia Bank is slipping almost 3 percent after it announced plans to cut 2,500 jobs over the next financial year.
In other news, shares in Ingenia Communities are surging more than 10 percent after saying it was still negotiating with US private equity group Warburg Pincus ahead of the decision deadline for its $2.14 billion takeover offer.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.698 on Tuesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling well below the 64,150 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 64,512.35, down 404.35 points or 0.62 percent, after hitting a low of 63,894.67 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling more than 5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.5 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.2 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 2 percent each.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is declining almost 3 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are losing almost 1 percent each, while Panasonic is declining almost 3 percent. Canon is edging up 0.1 percent.
Among the other major losers, Fujikura and Resonac Holdings are slipping more than 5 percent each, while Fuji Electric and Furukawa Electric are declining almost 5 percent each. Kyocera, Taiyo Yuden and Sumco are losing more than 4 percent each, while Trend Micro, Sumitomo Electric Industries, IHI and Tokai Carbon are down almost 4 percent each. SHIFT, OKUMA and NGK are sliding more than 3 percent each.
Conversely, there are no other major gainers.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 158 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is down 2.5 percent, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Singapore are lower by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. Indonesia and Malaysia are up 2.5 and 0.2 percent, respectively. Taiwan is relatively flat.
On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Monday following the sell-off seen during last Friday's session. Technology stocks helped lead the way higher, resulting in a notable rebound by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
The Nasdaq ended the day well off its highs of the session but still jumped 290.85 points or 1.1 percent to 26,430.89. The S&P 500 also climbed 31.29 points or 0.4 percent to 7,690.73, while the narrower Dow bucked the uptrend and edged down 36.38 points or 0.1 percent to 51,966.03.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved notably lower on the day. While the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.2, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both slumped by 1.1 percent.
Crude oil prices jumped again on Monday on escalating Middle East conflicts and regional supply fears. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $2.56 or 2.52 percent to $103.97 per barrel.
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