Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious and are reluctant to take major positions ahead of the monetary policy announcements from the European Central Bank, the US Fed and the Bank of Japan this week. Optimism about a potential U.S.-China trade deal and an interest rate cut by the Fed are aiding market sentiment. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

With the Fed widely expected to lower rates by another quarter point on Wednesday, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying for clues about the likelihood of further rate cuts.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 97.8 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point this week and a 93.0 percent chance of another quarter point rate cut in December.

The Australian stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday, reversing to the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 9,050 level, with weakness across most sectors led by gold miners and technology stocks. Financial stocks are the only bright spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 36.80 points or 0.41 percent to 9,018.80, after hitting a low of 9,008.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 51.50 points or 0.55 percent to 9,300.40. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 6 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Beach energy are losing almost 2 percent each, while Woodside Energy is down more than 1 percent. Origin Energy is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent and Zip is down more than 2 percent, while Xero is edging up 0.3 percent and Appen is advancing almost 3 percent.

WiseTech Global is tumbling almost 17 percent after the Australian Federal Police and the corporate regulator raided its offices in Sydney and requested documents related to alleged trading by its billionaire founder Richard White and three other employees.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star resources and Evolution Mining are losing almost 3 percent each, while Newmont is declining more than 3 percent, Resolute Mining is sliding more than 10 percent and Genesis Minerals is slipping almost 4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is advancing almost 3 percent and ANZ Banking is adding more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Domino's are skyrocketed more than 17 percent ahead of a trading halt after reports that Bain Capital dealmakers were considering buying the company.

Shares in CSL are tumbling more than 14 percent after the blood plasma giant cut its revenue guidance as it faces a second strike and the deferral of its Seqirus vaccine business in the U.S.

Shares in AUB Group are gained almost 9 percent on news it received an unsolicited, confidential, and non-binding indicative takeover proposal from private equity firm EQT.

Shares in Liontown Resources are sliding more than 14 percent after a quarterly update revealed lower sales and revenue, despite a slight increase in production.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.656 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday, reversing some of the strong gains in the previous session, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 50,450 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 50,419.96, down 92.36 points or 0.18 percent, after hitting a low of 50,207.41 earlier. Japanese shares ended 2.5 percent higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.1 percent, while Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

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

The major exporters are mixed. Panasonic is gaining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric edging up 0.2 percent, while Canon is tumbling almost 5 percent and Sony is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Nidec is tumbling more than 19 percent, while Tosoh and Sumitomo Heavy Industries are declining almost 4 percent each. Dowa Holdings, Shiseido, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Japan Steel Works and Seiko Epson are slipping more than 3 percent each. Yaskawa Electric, Ricoh, Tokai Carbon, Nissan Motor, Sumco and Socionext are losing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, DeNA is surging almost 8 percent and Furukawa Electric is advancing almost 7 percent.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is down 1.1 percent, while Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.4 percent each. New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan are lower by between 0.2 and 0.4 percent each. China is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading day on Monday after moving sharply higher early in the session. The major averages added to the strong gains posted last week, reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages saw further upside going into the end of the day, reaching new highs for the session. The Nasdaq surged 432.59 points or 1.9 percent to 23,637.46, the S&P 500 jumped 83.47 points or 1.2 percent to 6,875.16 and the Dow climbed 337.47 points or 0.7 percent to 47,544.59.

The major European markets also showed more modest moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index crept up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices edged lower after showing a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Monday. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.08 or 0.1 percent at $61.42 a barrel.