Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with higher crude oil prices and bargain hunting also providing the boost. The recent sell-off came amid concerns about the US Fed's outlook for interest rates. Meanwhile, the coronavirus infection rate in the region is capping the gains and is keeping the underlying mood cautious. Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Monday.
The Australian stock market is sharply higher on Tuesday, recouping most of the losses of the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 adding more than 100 points to be above the 7,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. Stocks across most sectors are ahead with a weak U.S. dollar and bargain hunting providing a boost.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 111.90 points or 1.55 percent to the day's high of 7,347.20. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 113.60 points or 1.52 percent to 7,598.80. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Monday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 2 percent, while Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals and Mineral Resources are adding almost 2 percent each. OZ Minerals is flat.
Oil stocks are higher. Oil Search is edging up 0.5 percent and Santos is gaining more than 3 percent, while Beach energy and Woodside Petroleum are up more than 2 percent. Origin Energy is rising more than 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is adding more than 1 percent, Commonwealth Bank is rising more than 2 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay and Xero are flat, while WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent. Appen is down almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are mostly higher after gold prices climbed overnight. Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is rising more than 4 percent, while Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are adding almost 1 percent each. Gold Road Resources is flat.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.751 on Tuesday.
The Japanese stock market is sharply higher on Tuesday, recouping most of the losses of the previous four sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei index adding more than 800 points to move above the 28,800 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. Traders are also scooping up bargains following the heavy losses in recent sessions, which were driven by interest rate concerns.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at the day's high of 28,822.28, down 811.35 points or 2.90 percent. Japanese shares closed sharply lower on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 2 percent, Toyota is adding almost 3 percent and Nissan Motor is up almost 4 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is up more than 1 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 3 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are adding more than 2 percent each.
The major exporters are higher, with Sony gaining more than 2 percent, Canon adding almost 2 percent, Panasonic is up more than 3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is rising almost 4 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is gaining almost 11 percent, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is adding almost 10 percent and Nippon Yusen K.K. is up more than 9 percent, while Suzuki Motor and Nippon Sheet Glass is rising almost 6 percent each. Concordia Financial Group, Daiwa House Industry and Casio Computer is adding more than 5 percent each, while Sekisui House, Bridgestone, Toto and Fujitsu are gaining almost 5 percent each.
Conversely, there are no major losers.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 110 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Malaysia, China, South Korea and Taiwan are higher by between 0.2 and 0.9 percent each. Hong Kong is flat, while Singapore is bucking the trend and is down 0.2 percent.
On the Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Friday, partly offsetting the weakness that was seen last week. The major averages all moved notably higher, with the Dow showing a particularly strong upward move.
The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, holding on to significant gains. The Dow spiked 586.89 points or 1.8 percent to 33,876.97, the Nasdaq advanced 111.10 points or 0.8 percent to 14,141.48 and the S&P 500 jumped 58.34 points or 1.4 percent to 4,224.79.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices rose sharply Monday and lifted the most active WTI Crude futures contracts to their highest finish in more than two years amid rising optimism about energy demand. Weakness from the greenback also contributed as West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July rose $2.02 or 2.8 percent at $73.66 a barrel.
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