Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid renewed uncertainty about the geopolitical situation in the Middle East after Iran reportedly said it will not meet the US team in Qatar for the peace talks later in the day to end the four-month war, and insists on control over the Strait of Hormuz, even if Oman opts not to participate. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has also declined after the U.S. and Iran traded new strikes over the weekend.

The Australian stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Tuesday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling well below the 8,850 level, with weakness in mining stocks nearly offset by gains in financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 4.50 points or 0.05 percent to 8,818.90, after touching a high of 8,832.90 and a low of 8,816.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 6.30 points or 0.07 percent to 9,020.60. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Rio Tinto is losing more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent.

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.3 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent, Zip is adding almost 2 percent, Appen is edging up 0.5 percent and Xero is up almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.2 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is losing more than 3 percent, Newmont is down more than 1 percent, Evolution Mining is declining almost 4 percent, Resolute Mining is slipping more than 4 percent and Genesis Minerals is edging down 0.2 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Euroz Hartleys are surging more than 7 percent after agreeing to sell its Capital Markets business to Bank of Montreal's BMO Financial Group for $145 million in cash. The proceeds will be returned to shareholders.

In economic news, Australia's private sector credit rose by 0.7 percent on month in May 2026, matching the growth recorded in both March and April and slightly exceeding market expectations of a 0.6 percent rise. Annually, private sector credit grew by 8.2 percent, the largest increase since November 2022, following an 8.0 percent rise in April.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.687 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, foll0wing the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 moving well above the 69,850 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in index heavyweights and automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 70,116.82, up 648.71 points or 0.93 percent, after touching a high of 70,584.22 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.3 percent and Toyota is declining more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are advancing almost 4 percent each.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each.

The major exporters are mixed. Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent and Sony is edging down 0.3 percent, while Panasonic is adding almost 1 percent and Canon is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Furukawa Electric is jumping almost 7 percent, Rakuten Group is surging more than 6 percent and Fujikura is advancing almost 6 percent, while Taiyo Yuden and Keyence are gaining almost 4 percent each. Mercari is adding more than 3 percent, while Fanuc and J. Front Retailing are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Nitori Holdings is declining almost 4 percent, while JTEKT, NSK, Yamaha and Socionext are all losing almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, Japan's industrial production rose 0.5 percent on month in May 2026, matching April's pace but falling short of market estimates of a 1.1 percent increase, preliminary data showed. Still, it marked the second straight month of expansion. On an annual basis, industrial output declined 1.7 percent, reversing a 2.0 percent rise in April and marking the first drop in six months.

Meanwhile, Japan's unemployment rate stood at 2.5 percent in May 2026, unchanged from the previous month and in line with market expectations. The rate remained at its lowest level since July 2025, as the number of unemployed fell by 50 thousand to a 10-month low of 1.74 million, while employment rose by 610 thousand to a record high of 68.82 million. The labor force also increased by 20 thousand to an all-time high of 70.57 million.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the labor force participation rate edged up to 64.6%, from 64.4% in April and 64.0% a year earlier. At the same time, the jobs-to-applicants ratio slipped to 1.17 from 1.18 in both March and April, marking the lowest reading in five months.

Additionally, the BoJ kept its policy rate unchanged at 5.50% at its June 2026 meeting, noting that although inflation has remained within its target range over the past three months, the outlook remains uncertain.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 162 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia and Hong Kong are down 2.6 and 1.2 percent, respectively. China, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each. New Zealand and Taiwan are up 0.6 and 2.7 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Monday after moving seeing significant volatility early in the session. The major averages all moved to the upside, with the Dow reaching a new record closing high above 52,000.

The Dow gave back some ground late in the day, but the Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed near their session highs. The Nasdaq surged 522.53 points or 2.1 percent to 25,820.14, the S&P 500 jumped 86.41 points or 1.2 percent to 7,440.43 and the Dow climbed 306.63 points or 0.6 percent to 52,182.74.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday as vessel traffic across the Strait of Hormuz dropped due to safety threats following mutual U.S.-Iran attacks over the weekend, partially offsetting the losses from Friday's session. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $1.36 or 1.96 percent at $70.59 per barrel.