Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders react to a New York Federal Reserve report showing a modest decrease in consumer inflation expectations, sparking optimism the Us Fed is done raising interest rates. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

Traders also cautiously await the US Labor Department’s crucial report on consumer price inflation in the month of October later in the day that could influence the interest rate outlook globally.

Recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is significantly higher on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying a tad below the 7,000 mark, with gains across most sectors, led by technology and energy stocks. Miners were also up after a rebound in commodity prices.

Traders also digested data showing consumer confidence in Australia declined in November following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s recent rate hike.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 46.20 points or 0.67 percent to 6,995.00, after touching a high of 7,011.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 49.30 points or 0.69 percent to 7,194.30. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue Metals are adding more than 2 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos and Woodside Energy are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Beach energy is advancing more than 4 percent. Origin Energy is losing more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is adding almost 2 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent, while Appen and Zip are advancing almost 3 percent each. Xero is losing almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star resources, Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining and Newmont are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.2 percent. National Australia Bank is flat.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.638 on Tuesday.

Extending the slight gains the previous session, the Japanese stock market is notably higher on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 moving well above the 32,700 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 32,757.44, up 172.33 points or 0.53 percent, after touching a high of 32,836.27 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are adding more than 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Screen Holdings is adding more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding 2.5 percent and Mizuho Financial is advancing almost 3 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Canon is gaining almost 1 percent, Panasonic is adding more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.1 percent, while Sony is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Taisei is soaring almost 9 percent, while Sumitomo Electric and Isetan Mitsukoshi are gaining more than 4 percent each. Isuzu Motors and Mazda Motor are adding more than 3 percent each, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is advancing almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Fukuoka Financial Group is losing more than 4 percent and Nissan Chemical is down almost 4 percent, while Rakuten Group, Kajima and LY are declining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 151 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is up 1.2 percent, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each. Singapore is bucking the trend and is down 0.2 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance throughout much of the trading session on Monday after recovering from an early move to the downside. The major averages spent most of the afternoon lingering near the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Dow inched up 54.77 points or 0.2 percent to 34,337.87, the Nasdaq dipped 30.36 points or 0.2 percent to 13,767.74 and the S&P 500 edged down 3.69 points or 0.1 percent to 4,411.55.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices moved up on Monday, gaining for a third straight session amid some optimism about the outlook for energy demand, as well as a weaker dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $1.09 or 1.4 percent at $78.26 a barrel.

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