Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the positive cues from European markets overnight, as investors remained cautious amid persisting worries about inflation, slowing growth and rising interest rates by major central banks pushing towards a potential recession. Signs of new waves of COVID-19 infections in China also hurt market sentiment. The Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 6,600 level, following the positive cues from European markets overnight, boosted largely by gold miners, energy and technology, while traders cautiously await the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy on Tuesday, where the RBA is again expected to deliver another half-point rate increase.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 12.40 points or 0.19 percent to 6,625.00, after touching a high of 6,640.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.90 points or 0.22 percent to 6.811.80. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are edging down 0.2 percent each, while Fortescue Metals and BHP Group are adding almost 1 percent each. OZ Minerals is edging up 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are higher, with Beach energy and Santos gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is adding more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Zip is adding 2.5 percent and WiseTech Global is up more than 1 percent. Appen is losing almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are higher. Resolute Mining is surging almost 7 percent, Newcrest Mining is up more than 1 percent, Gold Road Resources is adding more than 2 percent, Evolution Mining is advancing more than 4 percent and Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.5 percent, Westpac is losing almost 1 percent, ANZ Banking is down more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is edging down 0.4 percent.

In other news, shares in Regis Resources are surging more than 10 percent after the gold producer and explorer announced record gold output in the June quarter.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.688 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 26,300 level, following the positive cues from European markets overnight, boosted by financial and technology stocks. Traders also indulged in bargain hunting after the recent three-session slide.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 26,369.24, up 215.43 points or 0.82 percent, after touching a high of 26,532.51 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding 2.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is relatively flat and Toyota is adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.2 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.4 percent.

The major exporters are mixed, with Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic edging down 0.3 percent each, while Canon is gaining almost 1 percent. Sony is flat.

Among the other major gainers, Pacific Metals is surging more than 5 percent, M3 is gaining almost 4 percent, Trend Micro is adding more than 3 percent and Tokio Marine Holdings is up almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is losing more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 136 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is up 1.2 percent, while New Zealand, Hong Kong and Indonesia are higher by between 0.3 and 0.9 percent each. China, Singapore and Taiwan are lower by between 0.3 and 0.4 percent each. Malaysia is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, the markets were off on Monday for the Independence Day holiday and will return to action on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 surged 0.89 percent and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.4 percent, while Germany’s DAX slid 0.31 percent.

Crude oil futures fell in volatile trade on Monday as supply constraints amid lower OPEC output and the conflict in Ukraine were offset by worries that aggressive rate hikes by central banks would trigger a global recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by 0.6 percent at $107.75 a barrel.

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