Asian Markets A Sea Of Green

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by markets in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan on a continued rally in semiconductor stocks which mirrored their peers on tech-heavy Nasdaq amid improving sentiment toward the AI sector. Easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East also lifted investor sentiment. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

After meeting Qatar's Prime Minister at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said there is positive momentum toward ending the Iran conflict and downplayed the prospect of further U.S. strikes on Iran but warned U.S. forces remained "locked and loaded."

Trump described the war as militarily "effectively over" but emphasized the continuation of the U.S. naval blockade and Operation Iron Gate.

The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 9,100 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 101.90 points or 1.13 percent to 9,131.60, after touching a high of 9,145.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 104.70 points or 1.14 percent to 9,268.10. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Beach energy, Origin Energy and Santos is edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Zip is advancing almost 4 percent and Appen is adding more than 4 percent. Xero is losing almost 1 percent.

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

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

In economic news, Australia's Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index fell 2.7 percent on month to 78.2 in November 2026, its lowest level since November 2022. The decline extended a 4.7 percent drop in the prior month, marking a third straight monthly fall, amid persistent cost-of-living pressures and higher borrowing costs, which continued to weigh on mortgage affordability.

Meanwhile, Australia's NAB Business Confidence Index edged down to -15 in October 2026 from a marginally revised -14 in the previous month, marking its lowest level since April and the eighth consecutive month of negative sentiment.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.692 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 jumping 2.9 percent to well above the 60,450 level, with gains in across most sectors led by index heavyweights, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 60,475.78, up 1,700.28 points or 2.89 percent, after touching a high of 60,619.45 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is soaring more than 11 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent, while Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is advancing more than 1 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are surging almost 5 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing almost 4 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 4 percent and Mizuho Financial is adding more than 5 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Mitsubishi Electric is advancing more than 4 percent, Panasonic is surging more than 5 percent, Sony is edging up 0.2 percent and Canon is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Kokusai Electric is soaring more than 12 percent and Omron is jumping more than 7 percent, while Japan Steel Works, Resonac Holdings and Renesas Electronics are surging almost 7 percent each. Yaskawa Electric, Kioxia Holdings, Yokogawa Electric and Lasertec are advancing more than 6 percent each, while Disco, Shizuoka Financial and JGC Holdings are gaining almost 6 percent each.

Conversely, Kikkoman is plunging almost 12 percent. Ajinomoto is declining more than 5 percent, Orix is losing almost 5 percent and BayCurrent is down almost 1 percent.

In economic news, Japan's household spending dropped 6.8 percent on year in September 2026, deepening from August's decline and market expectations of a 3.1 percent drop. It marked the tenth consecutive month of contraction and the steepest fall since September 2020. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, spending fell 2.8 percent, reversing August's 0.1 percent increase and missing expectations of a 0.3 percent rise, marking its first decline in three months.

Meanwhile, Japan's bank lending grew by 5.2 percent on year in October 2026, unchanged from September's downwardly revised figure of 5.2 percent but falling short of market expectations for a 5.4 percent increase.

Japan's current account surplus decreased sharply to JPY 2,372.3 billion in September 2026 from JPY 4,375.8 billion in the same month a year earlier, falling short of market expectations of a surplus of JPY 3,354.4 billion. In the first half of fiscal 2026, Japan's trade surplus was little changed at JPY 17.15 trillion, compared with JPY 17.22 trillion a year earlier.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 158 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are surging 4.5 and 2.8 percent, respectively. New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 1.0 and 1.6 percent each. China and Hong Kong are up 0.2 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the upside during trading on Monday following the rebound seen during last Friday's session. The major averages all moved sharply higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge.

The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the close but still posted strong gains. The Nasdaq spiked 673.71 points or 2.7 percent to 25,253.14, the S&P 500 surged 173.08 points or 2.4 percent to 7,549.94 and the Dow jumped 1,104.02 points or 2.2 percent to 52,389.75.

The major European markets all also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index surged by 1.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1 percent.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed the possibility for fresh strikes on Iran that diminished supply disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $3.25 or 3.58 percent at $87.58 per barrel.