Asian stock markets are exhibiting a mixed trend on Tuesday, following the previous session's sharp rally after an unexpected rate cut announcement from the Chinese central bank lifted stocks across the board. The Japanese market, which was closed on Monday, is playing catch-up with gains made elsewhere in Asia yesterday.
The Australian stock market is trading lower on Tuesday, with resources stocks declining on the back of lower energy and metals prices.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 38.30 0.71 5323.50 and the broader All Ordinaries Index is down 38.20 0.71 5310.80. On Monday, the Australian market closed higher, lifted by gains in energy and mining stocks on the back of a surprise interest rate cut announcement from the Chinese central bank on Friday.
In the mining sector, BHP Billiton (BHP) is losing 2.2 percent and Rio Tinto (RIO) is down 1.6 percent. Fortescue Metals is trading lower by more than 6 percent, while Newcrest Mining is adding 0.7 percent.
In the oil space, Santos is losing more than 5.5 percent, Origin Energy is trading lower by 1.4 percent, Woodside Petroleum is declining 0.4 percent and Caltex Australia is down 0.6 percent.
Among banks, ANZ Bank is adding 0.13 percent, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank are down 0.5 percent each. Westpac (WBK) is trading lower by 0.34 percent.
Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is losing 1.1 percent and Bank of Queensland is declining 1.5 percent.
Electrical and furniture retailer Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. is tapping investors for A$120.7 million in a capital raising. However, the company's shares are down 0.5 percent.
Health insurer Medibank Private Ltd., which listed on the stock market at A$2.00 per share, made its debut at A$2.22 per share on Tuesday. The Australian government has reportedly raised A$5.7 billion from the sale of Medibank.
Transport and logistics operator Toll Holdings is down 0.18 percent despite the company saying it expects to raise more than A$100 million from the sale of its assets in Asia and Australia.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar traded lower against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, paring Monday's gains following China's interest rate cut. In late-morning trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.8611, down from US$0.8683 on Monday.
The Japanese stock market is trading in positive territory, tracking the overnight gains on Wall Street and playing catch-up with its Asian peers following Monday's holiday.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 62.24 points or 0.36 percent to 17,419.75.
Among the top gainers, Pacific Metals is up more than 7 percent, while Hitachi Construction is advancing 5.3 percent, JTEXT Corp. is trading higher by 4.9 percent and Tosoh Corp is gaining 4.7 percent. Sony Corp. (SNE) is adding almost 5 percent ahead of its investor briefing.
Meanwhile, Sky Perfect JSAT Holdings is down more than 2 percent, Eisai Co. is declining 1.9 percent, NH Foods is also trading lower by 1.9 percent and Sumitomo Realty is losing 1.8 percent. Unitika is declining 1.7 percent.
Automaker Honda Motor (HMC) is gaining more than 1 percent despite news that the company failed to report to U.S. regulators about 1,729 accidents involving its vehicles that caused deaths and injury. The occurrence of these accidents were for an eleven-year period from 2003 to date.
On the economic front, the Bank of Japan will release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on October 31. At the meeting, the BoJ expanded its massive quantitative and qualitative easing in a 5-4 vote, raising the monetary base at an annual pace of about 80 trillion yen. The earlier plan was to increase it by about 60 trillion to 70 trillion yen.
Meanwhile, Japan also will see October results for corporate service prices, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 3.6 percent following the 3.5 percent gain in September.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand and South Korea are trading marginally lower. Meanwhile, Shanghai, Malaysia and Taiwan are modestly higher.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Monday, partly reflecting optimism about the global economic outlook following the Chinese central bank's surprise interest rate cut and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's comments about further stimulus.
The Dow and the S&P 500 indices still reached new record closing highs. The Dow inched up only 7.84 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 17,817.90. The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 41.92 points or 0.9 percent to 4,754.89, and the S&P 500 climbed 5.91 points or 0.3 percent to 2,069.41.
The major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dropped by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both rose by 0.5 percent.
U.S. crude oil snapped a two-day gain to end lower on Monday, as negotiations between Iran and the West to curtail Tehran's nuclear program were extended by seven months and with investors awaiting the outcome from the OPEC meeting scheduled for November 27.
Crude Oil futures for January delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $0.73 or nearly 1 percent to close at $75.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday.
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Market Analysis
December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.