Asian Markets Trade Mixed

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid mounting concerns over AI-related disruptions, lingering uncertainty about US President Donald Trump's tariff policies and escalating tensions between the US and Iran. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

Following the Supreme Court's decision striking down most of Trump's sweeping global tariffs, Trump said he would be raising worldwide tariffs to the "fully allowed" and "legally tested" 15 percent level from the 10 percent.

Trump also said any Country that wants to "play games" will be met with a "much higher tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to."

The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling to near the 9,000 mark, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains is mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 22.10 points or 0.25 percent to 9,003.90, after touching a high of 9,054.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 25.20 points or 0.27 percent to 9,226.30. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is surging almost 5 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue are adding almost 1 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining more than 1 percent, while Santos, Origin Energy and Beach energy are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining more than 3 percent, Zip is declining almost 4 percent, Xero is down more than 2 percent, WiseTech Global is slipping almost 3 percent and Appen is advancing almost 4 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Northern Star resources are advancing more than 3 percent each, while Genesis Minerals is gaining 1.5 percent and Newmont is edging up 0.1 percent. Resolute Mining is edging down 0.2 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Monadelphous Group are jumping more than 13 percent after the mining and engineering services provider posted upbeat results for the first-half of the year. It also declared a higher interim dividend of 49 cents per share. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.706 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly higher in post-holiday trading on Tuesday, reversing the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 57,250 level, with gains in automaker stocks partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 57,256.55, up 430.85 points or 0.76 percent, after touching a high of 57,332.09 and a low of 56,732.93 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday ahead of the holiday on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Advantest is adding almost 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 2 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are declining almost 3 percent each.

The major exporters are mixed. Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent and Sony is edging down 0.4 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is advancing more than 1 percent and Canon is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Furukawa Electric is jumping more than 10 percent, Fujikura is soaring more than 8 percent, Sumitomo Electric Industries is surging almost 8 percent and Sumitomo Metal Mining is advancing more than 6 percent, while Murata Manufacturing and Ibiden are higher almost 6 percent each. SMC and Taiyo Yuden are gaining almost 5 percent each. Shiseido and Lasertec are adding more than 4 percent each, while Kubota, Daiichi Sankyo, Hoya and Yokogawa Electric are up almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, BayCurrent is tumbling more than 13 percent, Trend Micro is plunging almost 12 percent and Sumitomo Pharma is sliding more than 9 percent, while SHIFT and Fujitsu are sliding more than 6 percent each. Nomura Research Institute is declining almost 6 percent, while Sharp, NEC and Aozora Bank are losing almost 5 percent each. Yokohama Rubber and Mitsubishi Motors are down more than 4 percent each, while Chiba Bank, Dai-ichi Life and Fukuoka Financial are slipping almost 4 percent each.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are up 1.4 and 1.8 percent, respectively. New Zealand China and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. Hong Kong is down 1.6 percent, while Singapore and Malaysia are down 0.6 and 0.4 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Monday after turning in a strong performance last week. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside, with the Dow tumbling to its lowest closing level in a month.

The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Dow slumped 821.91 points or 1.7 percent to 48,804.06, the Nasdaq slid 258.80 points or 1.1 percent to 22,627.27 and the S&P 500 declined 71.76 points or 1.0 percent to 6,837.75.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DX Index slumped 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices sputtered on Monday as demand concerns reappeared following the uncertainty generated by the tariff issues. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery slipped $0.10 or 0.15 percent to $66.38 per barrel.