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, amid easing fears of a prolonged trade global war after news that the US and China have agreed to drastically reduce the massive tariffs on each other's goods by 115 percent while retaining an additional 10 percent tariff. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

The White House said the 34 percent reciprocal tariffs on U.S. and Chinese goods will be suspended for 90 days beginning May 14. Both nations also agreed to establish a mechanism to continue important discussions about trade and economics.

The Australian stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous four sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 8,300 level, with gains across most sectors led by Technology and energy stocks. Gold stocks were the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 58.10 points or 0.71 percent to 8,291.60, after touching a day's high of 8,314.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 67.50 points or 0.80 percent to 8,534.50. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 3 percent, Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent, Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is surging almost 7 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is advancing more than 4 percent, while Beach energy is up almost 1 percent and Santos is adding almost 3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 7 percent, Zip is soaring more than 10 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing almost 6 percent, Appen is skyrocketing more than 18 percent and Xero is gaining 1.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is sliding more than 6 percent, Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent, Northern Star resources is declining 5.5 percent, Newmont is tumbling almost 5 percent and Resolute Mining is losing more than 4 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is adding almost 1 percent and Westpac is gaining more than 1 percent, while ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.1 percent.

In other news, shares in Life360 are soaring almost 16 percent after the location technology company reported record results for the first quarter driven partly by another increase in its user base.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.638 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 moving to a tad below the 38,300 level, with gains across all sectors led by strong gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,296.86, up 652.60 points or 1.73 percent, after touching a high of 38,494.06 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Monday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent, Screen Holdings is advancing almost 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is surging almost 5 percent.

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

The major exporters are mostly higher. Canon and Sony are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.4 percent and Panasonic is advancing almost 3 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Sumitomo Pharma is skyrocketing more than 12 percent and Yaskawa Electric is soaring almost 10 percent, while Socionext, Taiyo Yuden and Daiichi Sankyo are surging more than 7 percent each. Yamaha, Recruit Holdings and Fanuc are is gaining almost 7 percent each, while SMC is adding more than 6 percent. Suzuki Motor and NSK are rising almost 6 percent each, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is up more than 5 percent. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is advancing almost 5 percent.

Conversely, Sharp is plummeting almost 12 percent and Keio is plunging more than 8 percent, while Obayashi and Asahi Group are losing almost 4 percent each. Nitori Holdings, Marui Group, Kanadevia, ENEOS Holdings, Shimizu and Secom are declining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Malaysia and Taiwan are up 1.8 and 1.4 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, Singapore and South Korea are higher by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each. Hong Kong is bucking the trend and is down 1.2 percent. Indonesia remains closed for Wesak Day.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Monday, more than offsetting the modest weakness seen in the previous week. With the strong upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over two months.

The major average saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Nasdaq soared 779.43 points or 4.4 percent to 18,708.34, the S&P 500 spiked 184.28 points or 3.3 percent to 5,844.19 and the Dow surged 1,160.72 points or 2.8 percent to 42,420.10.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices showed another strong move to the upside on Monday, riding optimism about the outlook for demand after the U.S. and China reached their trade deal. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery jumped $0.93 or 1.5 percent to $61.95 a barrel.