Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as South Korean markets tumbled amid weakness in semiconductor stocks on concerns over returns on huge AI spending and mixed earnings and cautious forecasts from major US technology firms. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

Meanwhile, reports suggesting a possible de-escalation in the Middle East sent crude oil price tumbling, lowering inflation concerns and capping market losses.

Iran's news agency quoted Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian as stating that Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamanei granted powers to the government in its talks with the U.S. in the ongoing efforts to end the war.

Over the weekend, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump would like to resolve the U.S.-Iran war "diplomatically."

Qatar submitted revised proposals to convince Iran for an agreement with the U.S. Iran acknowledged that discussions are ongoing.

Despite the uncertainty on the outcome and the hard stance shown by leaders of both the nations, traders welcomed these developments although with cautious optimism.

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,850 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks. Energy stocks were the only weak spot on tumbling crude oil prices.

Traders remain cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank's interest rate decision later in the day, with the markets widely expecting a fifth rate hike by 25 basis points to 4.85 percent, a 18-year high.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 22.40 points or 0.25 percent to 8,878.90, after touching a high of 8,909.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 3.10 points or 0.04 percent to 8,980.30. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is advancing almost 2 percent and Rio Tinto is edging up 0.1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 3 percent, Santos is declining almost 4 percent, Woodside Energy is slipping almost 5 percent and Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent, Xero is adding more than 2 percent, Zip is up more than 3 percent and WiseTech Global is advancing almost 3 percent, while Appen is declining more than 4 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining, Genesis Minerals, Resolute Mining and Northern Star Resources are all gaining almost 3 percent each, while Newmont is adding more than 2 percent.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.700 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is closed for Culture Day on Tuesday. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Monday.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is tumbling 2.6 percent, while New Zealand, China, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.3 and 1.0 percent each. Hong Kong and Malaysia are down 0.5 and 0.2 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside in early trading on Monday but saw a significant downturn over the course of the session. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 sliding into negative territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 272.68 points or 1.1 percent to 25,164.32 and the S&P 500 fell 38.67 points or 0.5 percent to 7,541.40, while the narrower Dow ended the day up 213.67 points or 0.4 percent at 51,983.98.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 1 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday on reports that discussions are ongoing to settle the conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $7.76 or 7.45 percent at $96.36 per barrel.