Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Tuesday as investors resorted to bargain hunting, following the steep losses in the previous session after Greek voters overwhelmingly rejected a bailout offer by creditors in the weekend's referendum. In addition, the overnight plunge in crude oil prices boosted airline stocks.
The Australian market rebounded, reclaiming all of the ground lost in the previous session's sell-off, ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy decision due later in the day. Banks and mining stocks are leading the gainers.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index is advancing 85.60 points or 1.56 percent to 5,560.60, off a high of 5,566.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 83.00 points or 1.52 percent to 5,546.30.
Among the big four banks, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank are up almost 2 percent, Commonwealth Bank is adding more than 1 percent and Westpac (WBK) is gaining more than 2 percent. Macquarie Group is also up more than 2 percent.
National Australia Bank reiterated a plan to spin off its troubled Clydesdale subsidiary in the UK by the end of 2015.
In the mining space, BHP Billiton (BHP) is up almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto (RIO) is advancing almost 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is gaining more than 2 percent.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining is advancing more than 2 percent, while Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent after gold prices edged higher overnight.
In the oil sector, Oil Search is down 0.4 percent, Woodside Petroleum is losing almost 1 percent and Santos is declining almost 3 percent after crude oil prices plunged overnight.
On the economic front, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 2.00 percent.
The latest survey from the Australian Industry Group showed that the construction sector in Australia moved further into contraction territory in June, with a Performance of Construction Index score of 46.4. That's down from 47.8 in May, and it slides more sharply beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is weaker against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, a day after slumping to a six-year low following Greece's decision to reject further austerity cuts in a bailout referendum. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7498, down from Monday's close of US$0.7511.
The Japanese market is notably higher, as investors resorted to bargain hunting following the steep losses in the previous session. Additionally, a weaker yen boosted exporters' stocks.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 268.03 points or 1.33 percent to 20,380.15, off a high of 20,420.68 earlier.
Among the major exporters, Sony Corp. (SNE) and Panasonic are adding almost 2 percent each, while Sharp is gaining almost 4 percent. Toshiba is edging down 0.2 percent.
In the tech sector, Casio Computer and Kyocera are adding more than 1 percent each, while Fanuc is up 0.3 percent.
Among auto stocks, Toyota (TM) is adding almost 1 percent and Suzuki is up 0.5 percent, while Mazda, with large exposure to Europe, is gaining almost 3 percent.
Honda (HMC) is down less than 1 percent after the Nikkei business daily reported that Honda will abandon its ambitious fiscal 2016 sales target of selling 6 million cars worldwide.
In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU) is adding more than 1 percent, Mizuho Financial (MFG) is gaining almost 2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is higher by more than 2 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Konami Corp. and Maruha Nichiro are higher by more than 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 122 yen range on Tuesday, up from Monday's close in Tokyo.
Among the other markets in the Asian region, New Zealand, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong are up with modest gains. Shanghai is down almost 2 percent, while South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia are marginally lower.
On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Monday as traders reacted negatively to the outcome of the weekend's referendum in Greece.
The Dow dipped 46.53 points or 0.3 percent to 17,683.58, the Nasdaq slid 17.27 points or 0.3 percent to 4,991.94 and the S&P 500 fell 8.02 points or 0.4 percent to 2,068.76.
The major European markets also saw considerable weakness on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dropped by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.5 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil plummeted to end at a more than two-month low on Monday, on demand growth concerns after Greek voters rejected a bailout offer and amid rising concerns of a global oversupply situation with a potential nuclear deal between Iran and the West in the offing.
Crude Oil futures for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, plunged $4.40 or 7.7 percent to settle at $52.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday.
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