Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain concerned about the uncertainty in the Middle East conflict. Higher bond yields and soaring crude oil prices fueled global inflation concerns and indicated an imminent interest rate hike from the US Fed this week. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

Renewed supply concerns also exist after Saudi Arabia closed a critical 1,200 km long East-West pipeline that provides an alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz, following a drone attack.

A diplomatic meeting between Iran and the Gulf Arab states to discuss the situation in Hormuz was also abruptly postponed.

With oil prices surging and recent data pointing to stick inflation, CME Group's FedWatch tool is currently showing a nearly 92.5 percent chance the Fed will raise rates by a quarter point.

The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, reversing the slight gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,700 level, with weakness in miners, energy and financial stocks partially offset by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 84.70 points or 0.97 percent to 8,665.20, after hitting a low of 8,664.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 77.20 points or 0.87 percent to 8,846.70. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto, Mineral Resources and BHP Group are losing almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue is down more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is declining more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent. Beach energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Xero is adding almost 3 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing more than 2 percent, Appen rising almost 4 percent and Zip is jumping more than 4 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are slipping almost 4 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Newmont are losing almost 3 percent each. Genesis Minerals is declining more than 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent, while National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.713 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday after opening in the red, reversing the losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 moving up to near the 64,100 level, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 64,082.36, up 589.37 points or 0.93 percent, after hitting a low of 65,067.18 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is jumping more than 9 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.3 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are declining almost 2 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are losing more than 1 percent each, while Canon is edging down 0.5 percent. Panasonic is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Tokai Carbon is soaring more than 7 percent, Taiyo Yuden is surging almost 7 percent and Murata Manufacturing is advancing almost 5 percent, while Resonac Holdings and Lasertec are gaining more than 4 percent each. Socionext and Trend Micro are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Nitori Holdings, ARCHION and Resona Holdings are losing almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 154 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each, while China, South Korea and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.3 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant recovery attempt over the course of the trading day after moving sharply lower early in the session on Monday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day but still closed in negative territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed down 146.62 points or 0.6 percent at 26,186.41 after tumbling by as much as 1.3 percent early in the day. The S&P 500 also fell 37.00 points or 0.5 percent to 7,619.98, while the Dow dipped 152.09 points or 0.3 percent at 52,421.20.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index declined by 0.8 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices jumped on Monday after Saudi Arabia confirmed closing its East-West pipeline following attacks by Houthi militants. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.52 or 1.52 percent at $101.57 per barrel.