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 widespread expectations of further interest rate cuts by the US Fed amid recent signs of sluggishness in the labor market despite the ongoing shutdown leading to the indefinite delay of the release of key economic data. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 98.9 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by a quarter point later this month and a 96.1 percent chance of another quarter point rate cut in December.

Reports of the Trump administration quietly watering down some of the tariffs that underpin the president's signature economic policy has also aided market sentiment.

US President Donald Trump is said to have exempted dozens of products from his "reciprocal tariffs" in recent weeks and offered to carve out hundreds more goods when countries strike trade deals with the U.S.

The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Tuesday, adding to the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 9,050 level, with gains across most sector led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 58.60 points or 0.65 percent to 9,090.50, after touching a high of 9,115.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 63.30 points or 0.68 percent to 9,387.90. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 3 percent, Mineral Resources is advancing more than 4 percent, Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent and Fortescue is up almost 1 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos and Origin Energy are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Beach energy is gaining almost 4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are gaining almost 1 percent each, while WiseTech Global is adding more than 2 percent and Xero is edging up 0.3 percent. Zip is losing more than 3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star resources is gaining almost 2 percent, Resolute Mining is up almost 1 percent and Evolution Mining is advancing almost 5 percent, while Newmont and Genesis Minerals are adding more than 2 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while National Australia Bank is losing almost 1 percent. ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Alcoa are jumping almost 8 percent and Arafura Rare Earths are surging almost 13 percent after a multi-billion deal between the US and Australia to bolster rare earths and critical mineral supplies amidst US-China trade tensions.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.652 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Tuesday, extending the strong gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 49,900 level to all-time highs, with gains in index heavyweights, exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 49,929.81 up744.31 points or 1.51 percent, after touching a fresh all-time high of 49,945.95 earlier. Japanese shares ended about 3.5 percent higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also adding almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.4 percent, while Toyota is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing more than 1 percent, while Advantest is gaining more than 3 percent. Screen Holdings is flat.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is gaining more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic is gaining almost 2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are adding almost 1 percent each. Sony is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Japan Exchange Group is surging almost 5 percent, Renesas Electronics is gaining more than 4 percent, DeNA is advancing almost 4 percent and Sumco is adding almost 3 percent.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-150 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Indonesia are higher by between 1.3 and 1.8 percent each, while Malaysia and Taiwan are up 0.5 and 0.9 percent, respectively. New Zealand is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a more significant move to the upside during trading on Monday, following the upward move seen over the course of last Friday's session. The major averages all moved sharply higher, climbing back within striking distance of their record highs.

The major averages moved roughly sideways after an early rally, hovering firmly in positive territory. The Nasdaq surged 310.57 points or 1.4 percent to 22,990.53, the S&P 500 jumped 71.12 points or 1.1 percent to 6,735.13 and the Dow shot up 515.97 points or 1.1 percent to 46,706.58.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices edged lower on Monday as traders assess recent IEA reports of an oil market surplus in 2026. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $0.10 or 0.17 percent at $57.44 per barrel.