Asian stock markets are mostly trading in positive territory on Tuesday, although buying interest is a bit subdued in some of the markets due to a lack of triggers. Following a flat lead from Wall Street, investors are mostly seen tracking regional news for direction.
The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher with investors indulging in some selective buying. Healthcare, information technology, industrial and energy stocks are trading firm, while mining, financial and property trusts stocks are trading mixed.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is up 13.3 points or 0.3 percent at 5,223.6. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 10.2 points or 0.2 percent at 5,205.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank and Westpac (WBK) are down marginally, while National Australia Bank is trading flat. Commonwealth Bank of Australia is up 0.7 percent. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Bank of Queensland are up 1 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
In the mining space BHP Billiton (BHP) is trading marginally higher and Rio Tinto (RIO) is trading 0.3 percent down.
In the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Oil Search are up 0.3 to 0.7 percent. Caltex Australia is adding 1.3 percent, while Origin Energy is trading weak, losing 0.6 percent.
Aristocrat Leisure, Brambles and Perseus Mining are trading higher by 3 to 3.2 percent. Crown is up with a gain of 2.6 percent. QBE Insurance Group, Ramsay Healthcare, Incitec Pivot, Cochlear and Amcor are up 2 to 2.2 percent.
Among the losers, Lynas Corp. is down 6.2 percent, Atlas Iron, Beach Energy, Oz Minerals, Flight Centre and Newcrest Mining are trading lower by 2.6 to 3.3 percent. Monadelphous Group, Toll Holdings, Echo Entertainment Group, Mineral Resources and Regis Resources are down 1.8 to 2.2 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened slightly lower against the U.S. dollar. In early trades the Aussie was quoting at US$0.9953, down nearly 0.5 percent from Monday's close.
After opening on a positive note on the back of the yen's weakness against the U.S. dollar, the Japanese market retreated with investors indulging in some profit taking. However, amid selective buying, the market rebounded subsequently and was trading modestly higher when the morning session ended.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which declined to around 14,760 after rising to 14,839.8 in early trades, was up 34.9 points or 0.2 percent at 14,817.1 at the break.
Pioneer Corp. jumped 30 percent. Konami Corp. shares vaulted more than 12 percent. Nippon Electric Glass, Kansai Electric Power and Tokyo Electric Power gained 8 to 10 percent.
Citizen Holdings shares moved up by 8 percent following a strong earnings forecast from the company. Dainippon Screen Manufacturing, Amada, Panasonic Corp. (PC), Ebara Corp., Chubu Electric Power, Astellas Pharma and Showa Shell Sekiyu KK climbed 4 to 6 percent.
Nippon Sheet Glass, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Sony Corp. (SNE), Hitachi, Konica Minolta, Mitsui Chemicals, Inpex Corp. and Yahoo Japan also rose sharply.
Meanwhile, Nisshin Steel Holdings, Takashimaya, NSK, Shinsei Bank, Heiwa Real Estate, Tokyu Land and Japan Steel Works declined, losing 3 to 6 percent. J Front Retailing, Fujikura, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU), Olympus Corp., Bank of Yokohama, SMFG and Chiba Bank also posted notable losses.
On the economic front, the index measuring the prices of domestic corporate goods in Japan was up 0.3 percent on month at 101.4 in April, the Bank of Japan said. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.1 percent, which would have been unchanged from the March reading.
On a yearly basis, prices were flat versus expectations for a decline of 0.2 percent following the 0.5 percent contraction in the previous month.
Export prices were down 1.2 percent on month and 2.9 percent on year, while import prices dipped 1.0 percent on month and 4.5 percent on year.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 101 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 101.60 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea and Singapore are trading notably higher. Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan are up marginally, Shanghai and New Zealand are trading weak, while Hong Kong is trading flat.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction on Monday after moving modestly lower during the earlier part of the session. Upbeat retail sales data limited the market's downside.
The major averages ended the day mixed, with the Dow posting a modest loss. While the Dow dipped 26.8 points or 0.2 percent to 15,091.7, the Nasdaq edged up 2.2 points or 0.1 percent to 3,438.8 and the S&P 500 inched up by less than a tenth of a percent to 1,633.8.
Major European markets ended mixed on Monday. While the French CAC 40 index edged down by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index inched up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX index closed just above the unchanged line.
U.S. crude oil ended at a one-week low on Monday, mostly on demand growth concerns after a sharp decline in refined crude output for April in China and some soft economic data out of the world's second-largest economy.
Crude for June delivery ended down $0.87 or 0.9 percent at $95.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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