Asian Markets Track Wall Street Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, on renewed optimism over U.S.-China trade talks and optimism about further interest rate cuts amid the ongoing U.S. government shutdown along with the intensifying Russia-Ukraine war. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

After threatening to massively increase tariffs on China in retaliation for China's expansive export curbs on its rare earth minerals, US President Donald Trump stuck a more conciliatory tone in a post on social media platform Truth Social, helping to ease the trade war worries.

"Don't worry about China, it will all be fine!" Trump said. "Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn't want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!"

Deprived of reliable economic indicators to factor in before deciding on interest rates at their month-end monetary policy meeting, the US Fed is compelled to lean on private and other data sources.

According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, investors are at betting on a 96.7% chance of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in the upcoming October 28-29 Federal Reserve's meeting.

The Australian stock market is trading slightly higher on Tuesday after opening in the green and briefly treading into the red, reversing the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving near the 8,900 level, with gains in mining and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in financial and technology stocks

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 10.70 points or 0.12 percent to 8,893.50, after hitting a low of 8,843.80 and a high of 8,914.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 19.80 points or 0.22 percent to 9,203.10. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue is adding more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 1 percent. Oil stocks are higher. Woodside Energy, Origin Energy, Beach energy and Santos are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. Zip is edging up 0.3 percent. Appen is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star resources is advancing almost 3 percent, Genesis Minerals is surging almost 6 percent and Resolute Mining is adding more than 1 percent, while Newmont and Evolution Mining are jumping more than 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is down almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is edging down 0.1 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are declining more than 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in SRG Global are skyrocketing more than 19 percent after announcing a "transformational acquisition" of Total AMS, expanding its marine infrastructure services.

Shares in Paladin Energy are surging more than 7 percent after the uranium miner ramps up production.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.651 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply lower in post-holiday trading on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 47,550 level, with weakness in across most sectors led by exporters, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 47,520.57, down 568.23 points or 1.18 percent, after hitting a low of 47,328.55 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday ahead of the holiday on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing more than 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is down almost 1 percent and Advantest is slipping more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is slipping more than 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is declining more than 2 percent.

The major exporters are weak. Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are declining almost 2 percent each, while Canon is down almost 1 percent and Sony is losing more than 2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Renesas Electronics, Chugai Pharmaceutical and Keyence are declining more than 4 percent each, while Ebara and Resona Holdings are losing almost 4 percent each. Mercari, Socionext, Nidec, Chiba Bank, Nitto Denko and Recruit Holdings are slipping more than 3 percent each, while Sharp, Daiichi Sankyo and Yokohama Financial are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Ryohin Keikaku is skyrocketing almost 13 percent and Sumitomo Metal Mining is surging almost 6 percent, while Dowa Holdings and Yaskawa Electric are gaining more than 4 percent each. Mitsui Kinzoku, Lasertec and Mitsubishi Materials are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 152 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is up 1.4 percent, while China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. New Zealand and Hong Kong are down 0.7 and 0.1 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks continue to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading day on Monday after moving sharply higher early in the session. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside partly offsetting the steep losses posted last Friday.

The major averages moved roughly sideways after the early surge, hovering near their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq spiked 490.18 points or 2.2 percent to 22,694.61, the S&P 500 shot up 102.21 points or 1.6 percent to 6,654.72 and the Dow jumped 587.98 points or 1.3 percent to 46,067.58.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices rebounded to post sharp gains on Monday as the likelihood of the U.S. getting involved in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war triggered fresh concerns of military escalation as well as new sanction threats on Russian oil exports. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.67 or 1.14 percent at $59.57 per barrel.