Asian stock markets are predominantly trading higher on Tuesday, despite broadly negative global market cues from the previous night. This recovery comes in the wake of the steepest sell-off since 2008, driven by fears that the world's largest economy might be sliding into a recession, following disappointing U.S. jobs and manufacturing data. Consequently, Asian markets had closed mostly lower on Monday but have shown resilience today.
The Australian stock market is trading slightly higher, attempting to recover from substantial losses in the previous two sessions, despite negative global trends. The S&P/ASX 200 remains well below the 7,600 mark, buoyed by gains in certain iron ore mining and technology stocks, as traders cautiously await the Reserve Bank of Australia's upcoming monetary policy decisions.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index has risen by 21.70 points, or 0.28%, reaching 7,671.30, following an earlier high of 7,713.70. Meanwhile, the broader All Ordinaries Index has gained 23.90 points or 0.30%, settling at 7,883.30. On Monday, Australian stocks had closed sharply lower.
In the mining sector, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals, Mineral Resources, and Rio Tinto have marginally increased by 0.3 to 0.5% each. Oil stocks are mixed; Woodside Energy is down almost 3%, Beach Energy has lost nearly 1%, while Santos has edged up by 0.4% and Origin Energy remains flat.
Within the technology sector, Appen has surged over 3%, Zip is up nearly 3%, and Block (the owner of Afterpay) has edged higher by 0.1%, while WiseTech Global has dipped by 0.2%, and Xero remains flat. Gold miners are mostly in decline, with Gold Road Resources down almost 3%, Northern Star Resources falling nearly 2%, Evolution Mining dropping over 2%, and Newmont slipping almost 4%. However, Resolute Mining shows a modest gain of nearly 1%.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank has gained more than 1%, National Australia Bank is up by 0.3%, whereas Westpac and ANZ Banking have slightly declined by 0.1 to 0.2%.
In economic news, Australia's building approvals dropped by a seasonally adjusted 6.5% in June, bringing the total to 13,237, in line with expectations. This followed an upwardly revised 5.7% increase in May. Year-over-year, approvals fell by 3.7%, and the value of total building approved decreased by 7.0% to A$12.06 billion, after a 0.4% rise in May.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.651.
Meanwhile, the Japanese stock market has seen a significant rebound, with the Nikkei 225 Index climbing by nearly 3,000 points to surpass the 34,400 level, driven by strong sector-wide gains, including prominent index heavyweights and tech stocks, despite negative global cues.
The Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 34,416.32, up by 2,957.90 points or 9.40%, after reaching an earlier high of 34,911.80. Japanese shares had also ended sharply lower on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group has surged almost 10%, and Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo, has risen over 3%. Among automakers, Honda has soared by almost 16%, and Toyota has gained more than 11%.
In the tech sector, Advantest and Screen Holdings have increased by almost 10% each, while Tokyo Electron has surged nearly 15%.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial has gained almost 7%, Mizuho Financial has advanced nearly 6%, but Sumitomo Mitsui Financial has declined by almost 2%.
Major exporters have also shown gains, with Panasonic and Sony up almost 7% each, Mitsubishi Electric rising over 6%, and Canon gaining more than 3%.
Other major gainers include Kikkoman, rocketing nearly 21%, and firms such as Isetan Mitsukoshi, Renesas Electronics, and Ebara, all surging by more than 18%. Companies like UBE, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Tokio Marine, Orix, and Hoya have risen by over 17% each, while Amada and GS Yuasa have surged nearly 17% each. Nitto Denko and Kuraray have both gained almost 16%.
Conversely, Ajinomoto has plunged more than 7%, and Yamato Holdings has lost more than 3%.In economic news, household spending in Japan experienced a modest rise in June, up a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent month-over-month to 280,888 yen, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. This increase fell short of the projected 0.2 percent gain, following a 0.3 percent decline in May. Annually, household spending decreased by 1.4 percent, missing expectations of a 0.9 percent decline after a 1.8 percent drop the previous month. Meanwhile, the average monthly household income climbed 3.1 percent year-over-year to 957,457 yen.
In the currency markets, the U.S. dollar was trading in the lower 145 yen range on Tuesday.
Across Asia, South Korea saw a significant gain of 3.0 percent, while Malaysia and Taiwan posted increases of 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. China, Hong Kong, and Indonesia registered gains between 0.2 and 0.5 percent each. Conversely, New Zealand and Singapore experienced declines of 0.7 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.
Wall Street witnessed a steep drop in stock prices on Monday, continuing the downward trend from the previous week. The major indices all posted significant losses, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reaching three-month lows.
The major averages closed the session off their intraday lows but remained substantially negative. The Nasdaq plummeted 576.08 points or 3.4 percent to 16,200.08, the S&P 500 fell 160.23 points or 3.0 percent to 5,186.33, and the Dow dropped 1,033.99 points or 2.6 percent to 38,703.27.
In Europe, the markets also experienced notable declines. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 2.0 percent, while Germany's DAX Index and France's CAC 40 Index declined by 1.8 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices decreased on Monday amid concerns about demand prospects due to fears of a potential U.S. economic recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September fell by $0.58 or 0.7 percent to settle at $72.94 a barrel.
