Asian Markets Mostly Lower On Global Cues

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with traders remaining cautiously optimistic as they believe the heavy selling in recent sessions has been overdone. The strengthening of the US dollar against Asian currencies also weighed on market sentiment. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Monday.

“Such U.S. dollar strength has historically led to some kind of financial/economic crisis,” said Morgan Stanley chief U.S. equity strategist Michael Wilson. “If there was ever a time to be on the lookout for something to break, this would be it.”

Concerns about the outlook for the global economy also continued to weigh on the markets amid worries the increases in interest rates around the world will lead to a recession. The Fed and other central banks have indicated they plan to continue raising rates in an effort to combat stubbornly elevated inflation.

The Australian stock market was modestly higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 just below the 6,500 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors as the market rebounded after the recent sell-off.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 10.80 points or 0.17 percent to 6,480.20, after touching a high of 6,509.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 10.60 points or 0.16 percent to 6,678.10. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is adding more than 4 percent, OZ Minerals is up 1.5 percent and Fortescue Metals is advancing almost 4 percent.

Oil stocks are higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.4 percent, Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Santos adding almost 2 percent and Woodside Energy is advancing more than 2 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Xero is losing almost 1 percent, while Afterpay owner Block, WiseTech Global and Zip are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each. Appen is gaining almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.4 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 2 percent and Newcrest Mining is rising more than 2 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank, and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

In other news, shares in MetalsGrove Mining are skyrocketing 48 percent after the Lithium explorer announced the discovery of a significant lithium deposit at one of its sites in Western Australia.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.648 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous three sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 26,600 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with minor gains across most sectors as the market rebounded after the recent sharp sell-off.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 26,651.60, up 220.05 points or 0.83 percent, after touching a high of 26,680.20 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is flat and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 2 percent and Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is losing almost 1 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.5 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher, with Sony gaining almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric adding more than 1 percent and Panasonic edging up 0.2 percent, while Canon is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Mitsui E&S Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent, while Hitachi Zosen and Konami Group are adding almost 4 percent each. Shiseido is advancing more than 3 percent and Kao is up more than 3 percent.

Conversely, there are no major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-144 yen range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand is plunging 1.2 percent after a holiday, while Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia are lower by between 0.3 and 1.0 percent each. Malaysia and Taiwan are up 0.3 and 0.4 percent, respectively. China is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated early in the session but moved notably lower over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages added to the steep losses posted last week, with the Dow and the S&P 500 falling to their lowest closing levels since late 2020.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow tumbled 329.60 points or 1.1 percent to 29,260.81, the Nasdaq slid 65.00 points or 0.6 percent to 10,802.92 and the S&P 500 slumped 38.19 points or 1.0 percent to 3,655.04.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index ended the day little changed, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled to near nine-month lows on Monday, extending losses from the previous session amid rising concerns about the outlook for fuel demand due to increasing possibility of a global recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $2.03 or 2.6 percent at $76.71 a barrel.

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