Asian Shares Mostly Higher; Chinese Markets Underperform On Property Woes

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Tuesday as oil prices slipped following the previous session's strong rally, and the dollar and bond yields retreated on Fed rate pause hopes.

Top Fed officials indicated on Monday that rising bond yields and the resultant tightening of financial conditions might prompt the U.S. central bank to stand pat on interest rates until year-end.

A cautious undertone prevailed, however, as violence escalated between Israel and Gaza. Both sides have suffered heavy casualties, prompting urgent humanitarian needs. Chinese markets bucked the regional trend, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index falling 0.70 percent to 3,075.24 after debt-saddled property developer Country Garden failed to make an international debt payment and warned it might not meet all offshore payment obligations in time.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 0.84 percent to 17,664.73 after witnessing a shortened trading session on Monday due to a typhoon warning. Country Garden shares plunged 8.3 percent.

Japanese shares posted strong gains as trading resumed after a long holiday weekend. The Nikkei average jumped 2.43 percent to 31,746.53, marking its largest single-day gain in nine months, led by energy explorers and refiners. The broader Topix index settled 2.12 percent higher at 2,312.19.

South Korean shares ended slightly lower on heavy foreign and retail selling. The Kospi average slipped 0.26 percent to 2,402.58 as Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho called for thorough monitoring and economic contingency plans to minimize the impact of the Israel-Hamas war on the South Korean economy.

Australian markets jumped the most in four weeks as energy stocks rallied after a surge in crude oil prices on supply concerns.

Origin Energy soared 5.5 percent after the competition watchdog approved Brookfield Corp's takeover of the power producer.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 1.01 percent to 7,040.60, extending gains for a fourth straight session and touching its highest level since Sept. 29. The broader All Ordinaries index closed up 1.03 percent at 7,231.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.79 percent to 11,293.38, logging its biggest intra-day percentage gain since Sept. 29.

U.S. stocks reversed early losses to end higher overnight and Treasury yields declined as dovish Fed comments outweighed concerns around the deadly Israel-Hamas conflict.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said in a speech that the central bank needs to "proceed carefully to balance the risk of tightening too much."

Fed officials Mary Daly and Lorie Logan also recently said that tighter financial conditions could limit future rate hikes.

The Dow and the S&P 500 both climbed around 0.6 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4 percent.