Asian stock markets exhibited a predominantly upward trend on Tuesday, reacting to mixed signals from Wall Street overnight. Investors capitalized on an opportunity to purchase stocks at lower prices after recent market downturns spurred by concerns over future interest rate movements. Robust performances in the mining and energy sectors further bolstered these markets, supported by rising commodity prices. Previously, Asian markets had displayed diverse outcomes on Monday.
Building upon gains from the last three sessions, the Australian stock market experienced a notable surge on Tuesday. This rally was influenced by the mixed signals from Wall Street overnight, with sectors across the board, particularly energy and mining, showing significant strength amid buoyant commodity prices. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose sharply, adding 97.80 points, or 1.20 percent, landing at 8,398.00 after earlier peaking at 8,402.20. The All Ordinaries Index also increased by 99.30 points, or 1.16 percent, reaching 8,653.70. The Australian market had ended Monday with a slight increase.
In the mining sector, major players like BHP Group, Mineral Resources, and Rio Tinto recorded minor declines between 0.2 to 0.5 percent, while Fortescue Metals saw a nearly 2 percent drop.
Oil stocks predominantly advanced, with Origin Energy increasing by almost 1 percent, Santos climbing more than 2 percent, and Woodside Energy alongside Beach Energy rising nearly 2 percent each.
Tech stocks were also buoyant, with Afterpay's owner Block soaring over 6 percent, Zip gaining 1.5 percent, Appen advancing more than 2 percent, and WiseTech Global and Xero both up by nearly 3 percent each.
Gold mining companies predominantly reported gains: Gold Road Resources, Newmont, and Northern Star Resources increased by over 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining added nearly 3 percent, and Resolute Mining surged approximately 16 percent.
Within the banking sector, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and National Australia Bank each rose nearly 1 percent, whereas ANZ Banking remained stable.
In other developments, TechnologyOne's shares skyrocketed more than 11 percent after the enterprise software provider reported a 15 percent increase in full-year net profit and a 17 percent rise in revenue, additionally declaring a full-year dividend of 22.45 cents per share.
On the economic front, Australia’s central bank was set to release the minutes from its November 5 monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. The Reserve Bank of Australia, which had held its benchmark interest rate at a 13-year peak of 4.35 percent for eight successive sessions, pointed out that underlying inflation remains problematically high. The latest adjustment occurred in November 2023, elevating the rate by 25 basis points to levels last seen in late 2011.
In currency trading, the Australian dollar was valued at $0.651 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Japanese stock market saw significant gains on Tuesday, reversing losses from the prior session. The Nikkei 225 moved above the 38,400 benchmark, following mixed Wall Street signals, with particularly strong performances from automakers, exporters, and financial stocks.
The Nikkei 225 Index concluded the morning session at 38,429.37, up by 208.52 points, or 0.55 percent, after hitting a high of 38,511.99. Japanese shares had closed notably lower on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group slightly decreased by 0.2 percent, while Fast Retailing, Uniqlo's parent company, edged up by 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota both recorded nearly 2 percent gains.
In technology, Advantest rose almost 4 percent, while Tokyo Electron saw a modest increase of 0.3 percent, and Screen Holdings dipped by 0.2 percent.
Within the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial added nearly 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial climbed over 2 percent, and Mizuho Financial advanced nearly 2 percent.
Major exporters primarily rose, with Panasonic up nearly 3 percent, Sony increasing almost 1 percent, and Canon climbing over 1 percent, though Mitsubishi Electric fell more than 1 percent.
Among other significant gainers, Japan Steel Works surged over 7 percent, Nidec advanced over 5 percent, and DeNA gained nearly 4 percent, while Fujikura, Hino Motors, Suzuki Motor, and Ebara all rose by more than 3 percent. Olympus and NTT Data added nearly 3 percent each.
Conversely, Recruit Holdings experienced a 3.5 percent decline.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar was trading within the lower 154 yen range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, stock markets in Indonesia and Taiwan both saw a 1.0 percent increase, while New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia rose between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. In contrast, China diverged from the regional trend, falling by 0.1 percent.In the latest Wall Street trading session on Monday, stocks experienced an upward movement following the downturn observed last Friday. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices saw advances, even though the Dow Jones Industrial Average concluded the day with a slight decline.
Specifically, the Nasdaq increased by 111.69 points, a gain of 0.6%, reaching 18,791.81. Similarly, the S&P 500 rose by 23.00 points or 0.4%, closing at 5,893.62. In contrast, the Dow experienced a minor dip of 55.39 points or 0.1%, ending at 43,389.60.
Meanwhile, European markets presented a mixed outcome throughout the day. The German DAX Index experienced a slight decrease of 0.1%, while the French CAC 40 Index saw a marginal rise of 0.1%. In the UK, the FTSE 100 Index increased by 0.6%.
On the commodities front, crude oil prices surged on Monday, fueled by concerns over potential supply shortages stemming from the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine. This upward trend was further supported by a weaker U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December settled higher by $2.14, equivalent to a 3.2% increase, closing at $69.16 per barrel.
