Asian Markets Trade Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, amid continued uncertainty about the progress in the ongoing peace talks to end the Middle East war and the related complete opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, the US granted Iran a 60-day license to sell oil on global markets, boosting expectations for a faster recovery in crude oil supply. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

The Australian stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Tuesday after opening in the green, reversing some of the losses in the previous three sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,800 level, with weakness in gold miners and technology stocks partially offset by gains in iron ore miner stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 2.70 points or 0.03 percent to 8,813.40, after touching a high of 8,849.90 and a low of 8,798.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 11.90 points or 0.13 percent to 9,019.30. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Mineral Resources is edging up 0.3 percent, while Fortescue, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy and Santos are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent, Zip is edging down 0.3 percent and Xero is declining more than 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is advancing almost 4 percent. Appen is flat.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is declining almost 2 percent. Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent and Newmont is edging down 0.5 percent, while Resolute Mining is slipping more than 2 percent and Genesis Minerals is down almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent and Westpac is edging up 0.3 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in June, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.2. That's up from 50.7 in May and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI improved to 49.9 from 48.7 and the composite PMI moved up to 49.8 from 48.7.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.698 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Tuesday after opening in the green, snapping a seven-session winning streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling well below the 71,750 level, with weakness in index heavyweights, automakers and financial stocks partially offset by gains is technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 71,711.67, down 642.29 points or 0.89 percent, after hitting a low of 71,430.52 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling almost 7 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent, Screen Holdings is adding almost 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are losing almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.5 percent.

The major exporters are mixed. Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 2 percent and Panasonic is edging up 0.2 percent, while Canon is down almost 1 percent and Sony is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among the other major losers, Furukawa Electric is tumbling more than 6 percent and Mitsui Kinzoku is sliding more than 5 percent, while Murata Manufacturing and Ajinomoto are slipping almost 5 percent each. Sumco is declining almost 4 percent and Trend Micro is losing more than 3 percent, while Denka, Ibiden, Sumitomo Chemical and BayCurrent are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Fujikura is gaining soaring almost 13 percent and Komatsu is gaining almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 161 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is tumbling 4.0 percent, while Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.5 percent each. New Zealand, China and Singapore are higher by between 0.1 and 0.3 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Monday following the strong performance seen during last Friday's session with trading resuming following the long holiday weekend. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a significant move to the downside.

The Nasdaq saw continued weakness late in the day, closing down 351.33 points or 1.3 percent at 26,166.60. The S&P 500 also fell 27.79 points or 0.4 percent to 7,472.79, while the narrower Dow bucked the downtrend and rose 148.01 points or 0.3 percent to 51,712.71.

The major European markets all ended the day mixed. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index bucked the uptrend and fell by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices plunged on Monday even though the Iranian military says it has again closed off the Strait of Hormuz, although there are reports of commercial vessels are operating freely in the strait. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $1.63 or 2.13 percent at $74.97 per barrel.