Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remained cautious and seemed reluctant to make more significant moves with the deadline that U.S. President Donald Trump set to bomb Iranian power plants and bridges if the Strait of Hormuz is not opened expires later in the day. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

Trump described a "significant proposal" received from Iran as "not good enough", threatening to decimate Iran within four hours if it did not agree to a deal by Tuesday night.

The U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran, termed Operation Epic Fury, which began on February 28 and rages to the sixth week, entered a crucial phase. The U.S., Iran and a group of regional mediators are discussing the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end to the war.

However, Iran rejected a US ceasefire proposal, demanding an end to hostilities, lifting of sanctions, and regional reconstruction as preconditions.

The Australian stock market is sharply higher in post-holiday trading on Tuesday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 8,700 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 117.50 points or 1.37 percent to 8,697.00, after touching a high of 8,804.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 118.70 points or 1.35 percent to 8,893.60. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Thursday prior to the holidays on Friday and Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 3 percent, Mineral Resources is advancing more than 4 percent, Fortescue is up almost 2 percent and Rio Tinto is adding more than 2 percent.

Energy stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is gaining almost 2 percent, while Santos is edging down 0.1 percent and Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 4 percent, Xero is adding almost 4 percent and Zip is surging more than 8 percent, while WiseTech Global and Appen are advancing almost 5 percent each.

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

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

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

The Japanese stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 53,650 level, with in exporters, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 53,323.41, down 90.27 points or 0.17 percent, after touching a high of 53,916.35 and a low of 53,194.47 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Monday.

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

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron and Advantest are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Screen Holdings is adding almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.5 percent and Mizuho Financial is adding almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is flat.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Panasonic is adding more than 1 percent. Canon is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among the other major losers, ARCHION is tumbling almost 8 percent, while Fujikura and Disco are losing more than 5 percent each. Suzuki Motor and Sumitomo Electric Industries are down almost 4 percent each, while Nikon is slipping more than 3 percent. Toho, Mitsui Kinzoku, Furukawa Electric and Yokohama Rubber are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, SHIFT is advancing more than 3 percent, while Kawasaki Heavy Industries is gaining almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 159-yen range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China South Korea and Taiwan are higher by between 0.2 to 1.4 percent each, while Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.2 to 0.7 percent each. On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Monday but largely maintained a positive bias before ending the day mostly higher. With the upward move, the major averages added to the strong gains posted last week.

The major averages finished the day not far off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq advanced 117.16 points or 0.5 percent to 21,996.34, the S&P 500 climbed 29.14 points or 0.4 percent to 6,611.83 and the Dow rose 165.21 points or 0.4 percent to 46,669.88.

Meanwhile, the major European markets were closed on Monday in celebration of Easter Monday.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday as concerns of a deeper escalation in the Middle East rise, with Iran still reluctant to open the Strait of Hormuz despite being served another ultimatum by the U.S. that expires tomorrow. WTI Crude Oil for May delivery was up by $1.39 or 1.25 percent at $112.93 per barrel.