Asian Markets Mostly Lower Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as investors remained cautious amid persisting worries about inflation, slowing growth and rising interest rates by major central banks pushing towards a potential recession. The new wave of COVID-19 infections in China also hurt market sentiment. The Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

Investors are also bracing for US inflation data later in the week that could throw light on the path of monetary policy in the US.

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 6,600 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, boosted largely by energy and financial stocks, partially offset by weakness in mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 13.60 points or 0.21 percent to 6,615.80, after touching a high of 6,649.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 5.80 points or 0.09 percent to 6,798.40. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are flat, while Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent and OZ Minerals is down almost 1 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are losing more than 3 percent each, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.2 percent. Xero is edging up 0.5 percent. Zip is in a trading halt after it mutually agreed with U.S. rival Sezzle to cancel their merger deal.

Gold miners are lower. Newcrest Mining and Gold Road Resources are is edging down 0.5 percent each, while Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent and Resolute Mining is flat. Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining more than 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are adding almost 1 percent each. National Australia Bank is advancing almost 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.673 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous three sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 26,400 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weakness across all sectors, particularly financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 26,362.76, down 449.54 points or 1.68 percent, after hitting a low of 26,325.09 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are losing more than 3 percent, while Tokyo Electron is declining more than 2 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are losing 1.5 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is down almost 1 percent.

The major exporters are weak, with Sony, Mitsubishi Electric and Canon losing more than 1 percent each, while Panasonic is down more than 2 percent. Among the other major losers, TDK is surging almost 7 percent, while Alps Alpine, OKUMA, Casio Computer, Fanuc, Omron, Nitto Denko and M3 are gaining more than 4 percent each. Yaskawa Electric, Ebara, Minebea Mitsumi, Taiyo Yuden and Keyence are adding almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, Nippon Suisan Kaisha and Konami Group are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 0.7 percent on month in June, the Bank of Japan said on Tuesday. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent following the upwardly revised 0.1 percent increase in May (originally flat). On a yearly basis, producer prices jumped 9.2 percent - again beating forecasts for 8.8 percent and down from the upwardly revised 9.3 percent gain in the previous month (originally 9.1 percent).

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 137 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is losing 2.6 percent, while Hong Kong and South Korea are down 1.2 percent each. New Zealand, China and Malaysia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.5 percent each. Singapore and Indonesia are up 0.1 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant move to the downside during trading on Monday following the lackluster performance seen last Friday. The major averages regained ground after an early slump by once again came under pressure going into the close.

The major averages all ended the day firmly in negative territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way lower. While the Nasdaq tumbled 262.71 points or 2.3 percent to 11,372.60, the S&P 500 slumped 44.95 points or 1.2 percent to 3,854.43 and the narrow Dow fell 164.31 points or 0.5 percent to 31,173.84.

Most European stocks also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index ended the session nearly unchanged, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.4 percent.

Crude oil prices slipped Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid a surge in coronavirus cases in China, while the dollar's jump amid expectations of sharp interest rate hikes also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $0.70 or 0.7 percent at $104.90 a barrel.