Asian stock markets are exhibiting a mixed trend with investors mostly treading cautiously despite a positive lead from Wall Street, where stocks posted notable gains overnight on the back of some upbeat economic data. Uncertainty about the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus program appears to weighing on sentiment to an extent and prompting traders to tread cautiously.
Despite a positive lead from Wall Street, the Australian stock market is trading weak on Tuesday, with investors mostly treading cautiously amid uncertainty about the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus program.
In the Australian market, shares from consumer staples, financial, industrial, mining and energy sections are mostly trading weak, while property trusts stocks are trading firm.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 52.3 points or 1.1 percent at 4,773.6. The broader All Ordinaries index is currently down 48.2 points or 1 percent at 4,756.8.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac (WBK) are down 0.6 to 0.9 percent, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia is down marginally. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Bank of Queensland are up marginally.
Top miners BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) are down 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.
Regis Resources, PanAust, Lynas Corp., Qantas Airways and Brambles are trading lower by 3 to 4.5 percent.
Perseus Mining, Seek, QBE Insurance Group, Duet Group, Aurora Oil & Gas, Metcash, David Jones, Bluescope Steel, Monadelphous Group, Insurance Australia Group and Origin Energy are down 2 to 2.8 percent.
Dexus Property Group, Commonwealth Property Office Fund, Dexus Property Group, Investa Office Fund, Arrium and Atlas Iron are all trading in positive territory with impressive gains.
Elders Limited shares are down more than 11 percent on reports that the company has shunned a takeover bid for its rural services division by rival Ruralco.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened weak against the U.S. dollar. In early trades, the local unit was quoting at US$0.9549, down 0.7 percent from Monday's close of US$0.9621.
After a fall from higher levels and a subsequent rebound, the Japanese market faltered again on selling pressure and was trading notably lower when the morning session ended.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which rose to around 13,140 in early trades, plunged to 12,920 in late morning trade and was down 91.3 points or 0.7 percent at 12,941.8 at the break.
Unitika, Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Chiyoda Corp., Toho Co., Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Tokyo Gas, Konami Corp., Bank of Yokohama, Shizuoka Bank and Astellas Pharma lost 2 to 4 percent.
Chiba Bank, Tokyo Electric Power, Pacific Metals, Trend Micro, NTT Data Corp., Nissan Chemical Industries, Casio Computer and Olympus Corp. also declined sharply.
Meanwhile, Hino Motors, Sony Corp. (SNE), Meidensha Corp., Tokyo Tatemono, Mitsui OSK Lines, Kansai Electric Power, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Inpex Corp., Advantest Corp. (ATE), Tokyu Land, Nomura Holdings, JFE Holdings and Yokohama Rubber traded higher, gaining 2 to 5 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid-94 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 94.71 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan are trading weak, while Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea are trading higher.
On Wall Street, stocks ended mostly higher on Monday, despite lingering worries about the outlook for the Federal Reserve's stimulus program. The early strength came on the heels of the release of some upbeat economic data, including a report from the National Association of Home Builders that showed homebuilder confidence jumped to a seven-year high in June.
The major averages finished the session well off their best levels of the day but still posted strong gains. The Dow jumped 109.7 points or 0.7 percent to 15,179.9, the Nasdaq advanced 28.6 points or 0.8 percent to 3,452.1 and the S&P 500 climbed 12.3 points or 0.8 percent to 1,639.
Major European markets too closed higher on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index moved up 0.4 percent, the German DAX index and the French CAC 40 index gained 1.1 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil snapped a three-day gain to end lower on Monday, after having trended higher for most of the day amid concerns over supply disruptions following geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Unconfirmed news reports on the Federal Reserve cutting back on its quantitative easing program dragged down oil prices.
Crude for July delivery ended down $0.08 or 0.1 percent at $97.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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