Asian stock markets are mostly trading subdued on Tuesday with investors treading cautiously amid a lack of positive triggers. A flat close on Wall Street overnight amid lingering concerns about the near term economic outlook is also contributing to the lackluster movements in the region.
In the Australian market, mining, consumer staples and energy stocks are mostly trading lower. Financial, telecommunications and information technology stocks are finding modest support, while industrial stocks are trading mixed.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 9.4 points or 0.2 percent at 4,376.1. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 4,398.5, down 10.7 points or 0.2 percent from its previous close.
Arrium Limited shares are down 6.8 percent. Whitehaven Coal, Sims Metal Management, Atlas Iron, Fairfax Media and Paladin Energy are trading lower by 3 to 4 percent.
Oz Minerals, Aurora Oil & Gas, Lymas Corporation, Challenger, Myer Holdings and Seven West Media are all down 2 to 3 percent.
Perseus Mining, Iluka Resources, James Hardie Industries and Rio Tinto (RIO: Quote,RIO.L) are also trading sharply lower.
Bluescope Steel is up nearly 4 percent. ResMed Inc. (RMD: Quote) and WorleyParsons are trading higher by 2 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.
Leighton Holdings Limited shares are up marginally. According to reports, Fortescue Metals will pay Leighton A$1.44 billion to oversee mining at its Firetail iron ore deposit in the Pilbara. Leighton Contractors will manage the mine for five years under the newly-signed contract, operating the open cut mining fleet and handling plants as well as associated infrastructure.
The Japanese market opened lower with a stronger yen prompting investors to indulge in some selling. However, with investors picking up stocks at lower levels, the market climbed into positive territory and was trading modestly higher when the morning session ended.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which tumbled to around 9,023 in early trades but rose to 9,112.5 subsequently, was up 26 points or 0.3 percent at 9,095.3 at the end of the morning session.
Suzuki Motor, Hitachi Zosen Corp., Tokyu Land, Mitsui Chemicals, Teijin, Panasonic Corp. (PC: Quote), Olympus Corp., Credit Saison and Maruha Nichiro Holdings were up 2 to 4 at the break.
Shinsei Bank, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsui Mining & Smelting, Chiyoda Corp., Fast Retailing, Resona Holdings, Sumitomo Chemical, Sumitomo Realty, Casio Computer, Daikin Industries and Fuji Electric also posted strong gains.
Meanwhile, Oki Electric Industry, Yokohama Rubber, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Chubu Electric Power, Kansai Electric Power, Komatsu, Nippon Light Metal, Japan Tobacco and Asahi Glass were trading in negative territory, losing 1 to 4 percent.
On the economic front, an index measuring prices for corporate services was down 0.3 percent on year in August, standing at 95.6. That exactly matched forecasts and was unchanged from the downwardly revised reading in the previous month, originally -0.2 percent. On a monthly basis, prices eased 0.3 percent after dipping 0.1 percent in each of the last two months.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 77 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 77.82 to the dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia, New Zealand and Singapore are trading modestly higher. Shanghai and Malaysia are up marginally, while Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are trading weak. Markets across the region had mostly ended lower on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended mostly lower on Monday, as traders continued to express concerns about the global economic outlook despite recent announcements of further monetary stimulus. Some weak economic data from Europe and troubling news from China hurt sentiment to a notable extent.
The Dow dipped 20.5 points or 0.2 percent to 13,558.9, the Nasdaq drifted down 19.2 points or 0.6 percent to 3, 160.8 and the S&P 500 edged down 3.3 points or 0.2 percent to 1,456.9.
Major European markets moved to the downside on Monday. While the French CAC 40 index lost 1 percent, the German DAX index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index closed lower by 0.5 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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