Asian stock markets are advancing on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session, as fading concerns about tensions between the U.S. and North Korea boosted risk appetite and diminished the appeal of safe-haven assets such as gold and the Japanese yen.
The Australian market is extending gains from the previous session.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 42.60 points or 0.74 percent to 5,773.00, off a high of 5774.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 39.90 points or 0.69 percent to 5,818.50.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Westpac, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are higher in a range of 1.1 percent to 1.8 percent.
ANZ Banking reported a third-quarter cash profit of A$1.8 billion, reflecting strong growth in owner-occupier mortgage lending.
In the mining space, BHP Billiton is advancing almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is adding 0.4 percent, while Fortescue Metals is down almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are lower. Newcrest Mining is declining 1 percent and Evolution Mining is down more than 1 percent.
Oil stocks are also weak after crude oil prices declined more than 2 percent overnight. Oil Search and Woodside Petroleum are down almost 1 percent each.
Santos is losing more than 2 percent after the company said it expects to book an impairment charge of $690 million in its half-year results due later in August.
Domino's Pizza Enterprises reported a nearly 25 percent increase in its full-year profit, but missed its forecast. Australia's largest pizza maker also announced a share buyback of up to A$300 million. The food retailer's shares are losing almost 17 percent.
Novogen said it has identified annual cost savings of A$1.8 million in a review of its business operations. The company's shares are rising more than 2 percent.
Challenger recorded a 21 percent increase in its full-year statutory profit on higher revenues and growth in assets under management. The company's shares are declining almost 1 percent.
In economic news, members of the Reserve Bank of Australia's Monetary Policy Board have noted the continued improvement of global economic conditions, minutes from the bank's August 1 meeting revealed.
At the meeting, the central bank decided to leave its key interest rate unchanged at a record low 1.50 percent for the eleventh consecutive meeting.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the total number of new motor vehicle sales in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 2.0 percent on month in July, coming in at 99,911. That follows the downwardly revised 1.1 percent increase in June.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower on Tuesday against the U.S. dollar. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7852, up from US$0.7869 on Monday.
The Japanese market is rising, recovering from the previous session's sharp losses, as the positive cues from Wall Street and a weaker yen boosted investor sentiment.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 267.59 points or 1.37 percent to 19,804.69, off a high of 19,824.12 earlier.
Among the major exporters, Sony, Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are losing more than 1 percent each, while Canon is down 1 percent.
Among automakers, Toyota is rising almost 2 percent and Honda is adding more than 1 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing more than 2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is up almost 3 percent.
In the oil space, Inpex is edging down less than 0.1 percent and Japan Petroleum Exploration is declining 0.2 percent.
Among the other major gainers, FujiFilm Holdings is gaining more than 7 percent, Showa Denko is rising almost 4 percent and Sumitomo Electric Industries is up more than 3 percent.
On the flip side, Furukawa Electric and JGC Corp. are losing more than 1 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 110 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong are also higher, while Singapore is edging lower. The stock markets in India and South Korea are closed on Tuesday for public holidays.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Monday partly due to bargain hunting. Trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.
The Dow climbed 135.39 points or 0.6 percent to 21,993.71, the Nasdaq jumped 83.68 points or 1.3 percent to 6,340.23 and the S&P 500 surged up 24.52 points or 1 percent to 2,465.84.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both jumped 1.4 percent.
Crude oil futures fell sharply Monday, trimming recent gains as traders bet the global oil supply glut will continue. WTI crude slipped $1.23 or 2.5 percent to $47.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, easing from 11-week highs.
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Market Analysis
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.