Asian Markets Trade Mixed

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious while being optimistic about peace talks to end the conflict in the Middle East after President Donald Trump canceled a planned attack on Iran in favor of the talks. However, Tehran's staunch denial of negotiating with the U.S. kept up the tensions. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

Trump affirmed that the points of agreement included the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Cautioning Iran indirectly, Trump urged Iran to rapidly make a deal with the U.S. as he may resort to attacks if it fails to do so.

The Australian stock market is sharply higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 9,100 level, with gains in technology and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 97.10 points or 1.08 percent to 9,116.40, after touching a high of 9,135.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 101.60 points or 1.11 percent to 9,280.00. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.5 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining almost 2 percent and Fortescue is adding more than 1 percent. BHP Group is edging down 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Santos is edging up 0.3 percent and Woodside Energy is adding more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent, Zip is surging almost 6 percent and Appen is jumping more than 6 percent while Xero and WiseTech Global are adding more than 2 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Newmont are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is advancing almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding almost 3 percent and Resolute Mining is up more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is adding almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.702 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is notably lower in choppy trading on Tuesday after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 63,350 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 63,333.35, down 421.55 points or 0.66 percent, after touching a high of 64,240.50 and a low of 62,864.43 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent, while Toyota is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 2 percent each, while Screen Holdings is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 3 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

The major exporters are mixed. Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Panasonic is losing more than 2 percent and Sony is down almost 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, NH Foods is plunging almost 9 percent, Yamato Holdings is tumbling more than 5 percent, Isuzu Motors is slipping more than 4 percent, Sapporo Holdings is sliding almost 4 percent and Oriental Land is losing more than 3 percent, while Murata Manufacturing, Sumitomo Pharma, Kikkoman and Kyowa Kirin are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Furukawa Electric is jumping more than 8 percent, Nippon Electric Glass is surging almost 6 percent, LY is advancing more than 5 percent and Ibiden is gaining more than 4 percent, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Fujikura and Sumitomo Electric Industries are adding almost 4 percent each. Omron and Trend Micro are rising more than 3 percent each. Lasertec, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Otsuka Holdings, IHI, Resonac Holdings and Shimizu are up almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the monetary base in Japan was down 13.8 percent on year in July, the Bank of Japan said - coming in at 554.925 trillion yen. That was shy of expectations for a decline of 13.0 percent following the 13.7 percent drop in June.

Banknotes in circulation fell 1.9 percent on year, while coins in circulation fell 1.1 percent. Current account balances slumped an annual 16.6 percent, including a 15.3 percent fall in reserve balances.

The adjusted monetary base fell 8.7 percent on year to 551.412 trillion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.4 percent each. China, Hong Kong and South Korea are lower by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each. Malaysia is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher in early trading on Monday and saw even further upside as the day progressed. The major averages all showed significant advances, extending the strong upward move seen over the two previous sessions.

The major averages ended the day not far off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq surged 540.04 points or 2.1 percent to 25,913.90, the S&P 500 shot up 110.78 points or 1.5 percent to 7,600.50 and the Dow jumped 693.38 points or 1.3 percent to 53,178.41.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed a mixed performance on the day. The German DAX Index jumped by 1.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 1.2 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and edge down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Monday, with supply disruption threats diminishing after U.S. President Donald Trump called off a planned attack on Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $4.77 or 5.63 percent at $79.90 per barrel.