Asian Markets Trade Mixed

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, amid ongoing pessimism over the conflict in the Middle East and concerns over the outlook for interest rates. Traders react to US President Donald Trump saying he has decided to hold off on attacking Iran amid requests from leaders from the Middle East. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

Trump said he suspended a planned strike on Iran scheduled for Tuesday after appeals from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, adding that the Gulf nations believed a deal with Tehran acceptable to Washington could still be reached.

Trump said there was a "very good chance" Washington and Iran could reach a deal to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

The U.S.-Iran war, which began on February 28, has effectively closed the vital Strait of Hormuz, leading to a spike in crude oil prices and concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates.

The Australian stock market is notably higher on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Monday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,550.00 level, with gains across most sectors led by energy and technology stocks. Iron ore miners were the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 70.00 points or 0.82 percent to 8,575.30, after touching a high of 8,604.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 64.30 points or 0.74 percent to 8,799.70. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP Group are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is adding almost 2 percent and Origin Energy is advancing more than 1 percent, while Santos and Woodside Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block, Zip and WiseTech Global are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Xero and Appen are adding more than 1 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Newmont is gaining almost 2 percent and Genesis Minerals is advancing almost 3 percent. Resolute Mining is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, while ANZ Banking, National Australia Bank and Westpac are advancing more than 1 percent each.

In economic news, Australia's Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index rose 3.5 percent in May to 83.0, rebounding from April's 2-1/2-year low of 80.1.

The Reserve Bank of Australia will also release the minutes from its May 5 monetary policy meeting. At the meeting, the RBA raised its key interest rate by a quarter-point to 4.35 percent as risks to inflation remain tilted to the upside. This decision followed similar quarter-point increases in February and March.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.714 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading notably lower on Tuesday after opening in the green, following the losses in the previous three sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Monday, with the Nikkei 225 falling well below the 60,450 level, with weakness in automakers and technology stocks partially offset by gains in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 60,429.76, down 386.19 points or 0.64 percent, after touching a high of 61,456.31 and a low of 60,425.33 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are losing more than 4 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is declining almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing more than 3 percent and Mizuho Financial is jumping more than 4 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 4 percent, Canon is edging down 0.2 percent and Panasonic is down more than 1 percent, while Sony is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Furukawa Electric and Lasertec are tumbling more than 5 percent each, while Dowa Holdings, Renesas Electronics, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Nissan Chemical, Fujikura and Sumitomo Pharma are sliding almost 5 percent each. Tokuyama, Mitsubishi Electric and Yaskawa Electric are declining more than 4 percent each, while Disco and Socionext are losing almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, BANDAI NAMCO and BayCurrent are jumping more than 7 percent each, while Konami Group is surging almost 7 percent, while ARCHION and Recruit Holdings are advancing more than 6 percent each. CyberAgent, AGC and Nintendo are rising more than 6 percent each, while Nomura Research Institute, Olympus, Kirin Holdings, Kajima and Tokyo Electric Power are gaining almost 5 percent each. Nisshin Seifun is adding more than 4 percent.

In economic news, Japan's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2026, the Cabinet Office said in Tuesday's preliminary reading. That beat expectations for a gain of 0.4 percent and was up from the downwardly revised 0.2 percent increase in the three months prior (originally 0.3 percent). On a yearly basis, GDP was up 2.1 percent - again topping forecasts for 1.7 percent and up from the downwardly revised 0.8 percent gain in the previous quarter (originally 1.3 percent).

Capital expenditure was up 0.3 percent on quarter, beating forecasts for 0.2 percent after adding 1.4 percent in Q4. External demand and private consumption were both up 0.3 percent on quarter.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 158 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is down 4.5 percent, while China, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.4 and 0.9 percent each. New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore are higher by between 0.2 and 1.2 percent each, while Malaysia is up 0.1 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks saw continued weakness throughout much of the trading day on Monday but managed to regain some ground going into the end of the session, following the sharp pullback seen during last Friday's session.

The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, with the Dow reaching positive territory. While the Dow climbed 159.95 points or 0.3 percent to 49,686.12, the S&P 500 edged down 5.45 points or 0.1 percent to 7,403.05 and the Nasdaq slid 134.41 points or 0.5 percent to 26,090.73.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.3 percent and the German DAX Index shot up by 1.5 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday as the U.S. takes time to respond to Iran's new peace proposal. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was last up $3.27 or 3.10 percent at $108.69 per barrel.