Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, after reports the U.S. is considering pausing the 25 percent tariffs on auto imports and decided to exempt certain consumer electronics from its so-called reciprocal tariffs. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

However, both US President Donald Trump and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick clarified that smartphones, computers and popular consumer electronics will come under separate tariffs, along with semiconductors, that may be imposed in a month or so.

Adding to the uncertainty surrounding tariffs, Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that there was "no Tariff 'exception' announced," noting the products are still subject to exiting 20 percent fentanyl tariffs are just moving to a "different Tariff 'bucket."

"NOBODY is getting 'off the hook' for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!" Trump said.

The Australian stock market is trading modestly 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 is staying below the 7,800 level, with small gains across most sectors led by iron ore miners and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 22.70 points or 0.29 percent to the day's high of 7,771.30. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 22.50 points or 0.28 percent to 7,982.20. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.4 percent. Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging up 0.4 percent each, while Beach energy is up almost 1 percent and Santos is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.2 percent and Zip is gaining almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent. Appen and Xero are flat.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star resources is declining almost 2 percent. Newmont is edging up 0.5 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.3 percent.

In other news, shares in Bellevue Gold are plummeting almost 21 percent after the gold miner secured buyers for a $156.5 million new share placement.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.633 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 moving to near the 34,300 level, with gains across most sectors led by strong gains in automaker stocks after reports the U.S. is considering pausing the 25 percent tariffs on auto imports.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 34,285.02, up 302.66 points or 0.89 percent, after touching a high of 34,459.00 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is surging more than 5 percent and Toyota is also gaining more than 5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is slipping almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is advancing almost 4 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Canon is adding more than 2 percent, Sony is gaining almost 4 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is up more than 1 percent and Panasonic is advancing almost 2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Denso and Suzuki Motor are surging more than 6 percent each, while Sumitomo Electric Industries is gaining almost 6 percent. Subaru is adding almost 5 percent, while Mazda Motor and Nissan Motor are rising more than 4 percent each. Mitsubishi Motors is up almost 4 percent, while Yokohama Rubber, Ryohin Keikaku, Hoya, Yokogawa Electric and Takeda Pharmaceutical are advancing more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Shiseido is gaining almost 4 percent each, while Toho and Tokyo Gas are adding almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 143 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia are higher by between 0.8 and 1.9 percent each, while New Zealand and China are down 0.2 and 0.3 percent, respectively. Malaysia and Hong Kong are relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Monday but managed to end the day mostly higher after moving sharply higher over the course of last Friday's session. The major averages all finished the day firmly positive, climbing further off the one-year lows hit last Tuesday.

The Dow jumped 312.08 points or 0.8 percent to 40,524.79, the Nasdaq rose 107.03 points or 0.6 percent to 16,831.48 and the S&P 500 climbed 42.61 points or 0.8 percent to 5,405.07.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index spiked by 2.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 2.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 2.1 percent.

Crude oil prices ticked higher on Monday on concerns that supply may not be able to keep up with demand. West Texas Intermediate for May delivery was up $0.29 or 0.47 percent to $61.82 per barrel.