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, aided by continued strong gains in Japan following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's landslide victory in Sunday's general election. Traders are also reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of several key U.S. economic reports in the coming days that could influence the US Fed's rate trajectory. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

The retail sales, consumer price inflation and the delayed monthly jobs report are likely to attract attention, as the data could impact the outlook for interest rates. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, markets currently expect the Fed to keep interest rates steady until June.

The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Tuesday, extending the sharp gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,900 level, with gains is mining, energy and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 22.70 points or 0.26 percent to 8,892.80, after touching a high of 8,925.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 29.60 points or 0.32 percent to 9,160.70. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue is flat. Oil stocks are mostly higher Santos is gaining almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is adding more than 1 percent and Beach energy is advancing almost 3 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent. Xero is up more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.1 percent, while Zip and Appen are surging more than 5 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is edging up 0.1 percent, Genesis Minerals is adding more than 2 percent, while Northern Star resources and Newmont are gaining almost 2 percent each. Resolute Mining is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is down more than 1 percent, ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent, National Australia Bank is edging down 0.3 percent and Westpac is declining almost 2 percent.

In other news, shares in G8 Education are tumbling more than 17 percent after flagging a $350 million non-cash goodwill impairment, scraping final dividend and pausing share buyback amid weaker occupancy and rising costs.

Shares in Treasury Wine Estates are jumping more than 6 percent after it settling a long running dispute in the US with its Californian distributor.

In economic news, Australia's NAB Business Confidence Index inched up to 3 in January from a downwardly revised 2 in the prior month, the highest reading since October. Meanwhile, business conditions weakened, due to declines in both sales and profits, while employment held steady for the third straight month

Private house approvals in Australia increased 0.4 percent month-on-month to 9,487 units in December 2025, easing from 0.8 percent gain in the previous month and in line with preliminary estimates. This marked a second straight monthly increase, albeit at a slower pace. On an annual basis, private house approvals rose 5.7 percent, extending their upward trend but slowing from November's 3.0 percent gain.

The seasonally adjusted number of total dwellings approved in Australia tumbled 14.9 percent on month to a four-month low of 15,542 units in December 2025, reversing a 13.1 percent surge in the previous month and matching flash data. On an annual basis, dwelling approvals rose 0.4 percent, slowing sharply from 19.4 percent surge in November.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.709 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is surging nearly 3 percent to well above the 57,900 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 57,926.07, up 1,562.13 points or 2.77 percent, after touching an all-time high of 57,960.19 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is soaring more than 10 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 2 percent, Screen Holdings is edging up 0.2 percent and Advantest is adding more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is advancing more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 3 percent and Mizuho Financial is adding more than 2 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic is gaining more than 2 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is advancing almost 1 percent, Sony is adding almost 2 percent and Canon is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Furukawa Electric is skyrocketing 22 percent, Nissan Chemical is jumping more than 12 percent, Mercari is soaring more than 11 percent and Kyowa Kirin is surging almost 10 percent, while Orix, IHI and NEC are advancing almost 7 percent each. Fujikurais is gaining more than 6 percent, while CyberAgent and Sumitomo Electric Industries are adding almost 6 percent each. Sumitomo Metal Mining and Mitsubishi Estate are surging more than 5 percent each, while Konica Minolta and Mitsui Kinzoku are advancing almost 5 percent each.

Conversely, Renesas Electronics is declining more than 4 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 155-yen range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are up 1.2 and 1.7 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, South Korea and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.5 percent each. Singapore and Malaysia is down 0.2 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Monday, extending the strong upward move seen last Friday's session. While the Dow crept up to a new record closing high, the tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a more notable move to the upside.

The major averages all finished the day in positive territory. The Dow crept up 20.20 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 50,135.87, the Nasdaq jumped 207.46 points or 0.9 percent to 23,238.67 and the S&P 500 climbed 32.52 points or 0.5 percent to 6,964.82.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Monday, extending last week's gains. Gold for February delivery surged $99.70 or 2 percent to $5,050.90 an ounce. The continued advance by the price of gold came amid weakness in the value of the U.S. dollar, with the U.S. dollar index sliding 0.7 percent.