(RTTNews) – Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday despite slightly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders appeared reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the US Fed’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. They also look ahead to monetary policy decisions from the US Fed, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England this week. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.
The Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged, but traders will keep a close eye on the accompanying statement and the central bank’s projections for clues about the rate outlook.
While CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently shows a 99.0 percent chance that the Fed will leave rates unchanged this week, the outlook for the November meeting is a bit more mixed.
The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falls to just above the 7,200 level despite slightly positive signals from Wall Street overnight, carried away by weakness in tech and technology. financial stocks, partially offset by gains in gold miners and energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index shed 26.00 points or 0.36 percent to 7,204.40, after earlier hitting a low of 7,187.50. The broader All Ordinaries Index fell 26.90 points or 0.36 percent to 7,401.20. Australian shares closed significantly lower on Monday.
Among the major mining companies, BHP Group loses almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto falls by 0.2 percent and Fortescue Metals loses more than 1 percent. Mineral resources are flat. Oil stocks are usually higher. Santos gains almost 1 percent, while Woodside Energy and Beach Energy each rise 0.2 to 0.3 percent. Origin Energy drops 0.1 percent. Among technology stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing 4.5 percent and Zip almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are each down 0.3 to 0.5 percent. Appen goes up 0.4 percent. Gold diggers tend to be higher. Northern Star Resources, Newcrest Mining and Resolute Mining each gain more than 1 percent, while Evolution Mining adds 1.5 percent and Gold Road Resources rises almost 2 percent.
Of the big four banks, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are losing almost 1 percent each.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release the minutes of its September meeting on Tuesday. During the meeting, the Australian central bank left interest rates unchanged at 4.10 percent for the third time in a row. The interest rate paid on the currency settlement balances was also maintained unchanged at 4.00 percent.
On the foreign exchange market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.643 on Tuesday.
The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, paring some of the gains of the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 33,200 level despite slightly positive signals from Wall Street overnight, with a mixed trend in the market as traders remain cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision due on Friday.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 33,129.23, down 403.86 points or 1.20 percent, after earlier hitting a low of 33,128.86. Japanese shares closed sharply higher on Friday, ahead of the holiday on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group loses almost 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing loses more than 1 percent. Among car manufacturers, Honda gains almost 3 percent and Toyota adds more than 1 percent.
On the technology front, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are each down more than 5 percent, while Screen Holdings is down more than 4 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is up almost 1 percent.
The major exporters are mixed. Canon and Mitsubishi Electric each gain almost 1 percent, while Sony loses almost 2 percent and Panasonic drops almost 1 percent.
Of the other major gainers, Renesas Electronics has fallen almost 5 percent, while Mitsui E&S and Hoya are losing more than 3 percent. Keisei Electric Railway, CyberAgent and Recruit Holdings each fell almost 3 percent.
Conversely, Mazda Motor gains almost 5 percent and Nippon Yusen KK adds more than 4 percent, while Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsui OSK Lines each rise more than 3 percent. Yokohama Rubber, Sompo Holdings and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha each rose almost 3 percent.
In the foreign exchange market, the US dollar is trading in the higher range of 147 yen on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are each between 0.1 and 0.4 percent lower, while Indonesia is 0.2 percent higher. China and Hong Kong are relatively flat.
On Wall Street, stocks performed relatively subdued in trading Monday after the volatility that ended the week before. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line all day.
The major averages ultimately ended the session slightly higher. While the S&P 500 rose 3.21 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,453.53, the Dow Jones rose 6.06 points, or less than a tenth of a percent, to 34,624.30 and the Nasdaq rose 1.90 points or less then a tenth of a percent to 13,710.24.
Meanwhile, major European markets fell that day. While the French CAC 40 Index fell 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index fell 1.1 percent and the British FTSE 100 Index fell 0.7 percent.
Crude oil prices edged higher on Monday, rising for the third time in a row due to global supply issues and a weaker dollar. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $0.71, or 0.8 percent, to $91.48 a barrel in October, the highest settlement this year.
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