Asian stock markets are exhibiting a mixed trend on Tuesday with investors treading cautiously amid a lack of cues. Though most of the markets in the region rebounded after early weakness, lack of support at higher levels is rendering price movements extremely sluggish.
The Australian market, which edged higher after some listless trades early on in the session, is currently trading flat with investors treading cautiously ahead of the central bank's decision on interest rates.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which recovered to 4,585 after an initial fall to around 4,564, is currently trading at 4,575, down 0.5 points from its previous close. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 1.3 points at 4,617.
Energy and financial stocks are finding some support, while information technology and property trusts stocks are trading weak. Mining, consumer discretionary and industrial stocks are exhibiting a mixed trend.
In the banking space, ANZ Bank, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac are up marginally. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is gaining about 1%, while Bank of Queensland is down marginally. Macquarie Group shares are down 1.5%.
Among mining stocks, BHP Billiton is down 0.8%, Rio Tinto is losing about 1% and Newcrest Mining is trading flat, while Fortescue Metals is up with a small gain.
In the energy space, Woodside Petroleum, Oil Search and Santos are down with modest losses, while Origin Energy is up with a small gain.
Gold miner St Barbara Ltd is trading down more than 5% after it proposed to consolidate its share base, in a bid to attract international institutional investors.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to hand down its decision on interest rates this afternoon. The cash interest rate is currently 4.5%, and is expected to be kept unchanged.
According to a survey, activity in Australia's construction industry remained weak in August, with house building diving to its lowest level in 16 months. The Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association performance of construction index (PCI) was broadly unchanged, falling 0.1% to 43.2 in August after a fall in July.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened slightly higher on positive global sentiment. In early trades, the Aussie was quoting at US$0.9174-US$0.9177, up from Monday's close of US$0.9169-US$0.9171. The Australian dollar is currently trading at 0.9152 to the U.S. dollar.
The Japanese market opened lower as investors pressed some sales in early trades after four successive days of gains. The yen's strength against the U.S. dollar too contributed to the mild sell-off.
With a section of investors picking up stocks at lower levels, the market briefly rebounded into positive territory but faltered again on stiff resistance.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which rallied to 9,311 from a low of 9,223.6, was down 21.52 points or 0.23% at 9,279.80 at the end of the morning session.
Electric power, oil, manufacturing and insurance stocks are mostly in negative territory. Steel, non-ferrous metals and bank stocks are trading firm, while real estate, retail and automobile stocks are trading mixed.
Bank stocks Shinsei Bank, Bank of Yokohama, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Shizuoka Bank, Chuo Mitsui Trust, Sumitomo Trust & Banking and Mizuho Financial are trading firm.
Nippon Sheet Glass, JFE Holdings Inc., Nippon Steel, Mitsubishi Chemicals, Mitsubishi Rayon, Fuji Electric, Kobe Steel, Nippon Light Metals, Citizen Holdings and Nisshin Steel are up 2%-4.5%.
Clarion Co. shares are down as much as 7.5%. Sumco Corp., Showa Denko KK, Mitsubishi Paper, Fast Retailing, J Front Retailing, Bridgestone Corp. and GS Yuasa are down with notable losses.
Yamato Holdings shares are up on expectations the company's door-to-door parcel delivery service will benefit from its rival Yu-Pack's sluggish operations.
On the economic front, Japan's foreign exchange reserves totaled 1.07 trillion dollars at the end of August, up 6.63 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to a report from the Finance Ministry. This marks the third straight month of increases and the country's second-highest foreign reserves on record.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded at the lower 84 yen level in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 84.22 to the U.S. dollar.
The South Korean market is trading flat with investors treading cautiously amid a lack of triggers.
Technology, banking and automobile stocks are exhibiting weakness, while shipping and oil stocks are finding support. The benchmark KOSPI index, which edged up to 1,796.5 in early trades but declined to 1,789 subsequently, is currently at 1,790, down 2.4 points from its previous close.
Among bank stocks, Korea Exchange Bank, Woori Finance and KB Financial are trading modestly lower, while Shinhan Financial is in positive territory with a gain of about 1.3%.
In the technology space, Hynix Semiconductor is down 1.6%, LG Display LCD is trading lower by over 1% and LG Electronics is down 0.3%, while Samsung Electronics is up 0.8% over its previous closing price.
Automobile stocks Ssangyong Motor and Hyundai Motor are in negative territory, while Kia Motor is up with a modest gain of 0.8%.
Steel stocks Hyundai Steel and POSCO are up 4% and 4.7% respectively. Among oil stocks, SK Holdings is up 0.7% and S-Oil is gaining about 1.3%. KEPCO is down 1%.
Among shipping stocks, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding are up 0.8% and 1% respectively. Samsung Heavy Industries is trading flat, while STX Pan Ocean is down 0.8%.
Telecommunications stocks are trading weak. Among airliners, Korean Air is down 1%, while Asiana Airlines is gaining about 0.7%.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are trading weak, while Indonesia, New Zealand and Taiwan are trading in positive territory with modest gains. Markets across the region closed higher on Monday as concerns about the global economic recovery eased considerably on the back of a better-than-expected jobs report in the U.S. for August.
Major European markets ended higher on Monday amid optimism about a global recovery. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index gained 0.2%, while the German DAX index and the French CAC 40 index both advanced by about 0.33%. The U.S. market was closed on Monday on account of Labor Day holiday.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.