Asian Markets Mostly Higher On Easing Bank Woes

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Tuesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as fears of a global banking crisis once again eased following the latest developments in the sector and after three regional US Fed bank presidents said the U.S. banking system was not facing a liquidity crisis. Asian markets closed mixed on Monday.

News that First Citizens BancShares Inc. will buy all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, and the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council’s remarks that the U.S. banking system was “sound and resilient” despite stress on some institutions, lifted sentiment in global markets.

The Australian stock market significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,000 mark, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by gains in mining and energy stocks amid firmer commodity prices. Banking shares were also up amid easing worries about the global banking sector woes.

Global stocks rallied after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. or FDIC announced an agreement, under which First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co., affiliated to First Citizens BancShares, Inc., will buy all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N. A. out of FDIC receivership.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 80.50 points or 1.16 percent to 7,042.50, after touching a high of 7,047.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 82.40 points or 1.15 percent to 7,226.20. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is surging almost 8 percent and Rio Tinto is up almost 1 percent. OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 5 percent, Origin Energy is up more than 1 percent, Santos is adding more than 3 percent and Woodside Energy is advancing almost 4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is surging 6.5 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent, while Zip is losing almost 4 percent. Appen and Xero are down more than 1 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is losing almost 2 percent, Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.5 percent and Evolution Mining is declining 1.5 percent, while Resolute Mining is adding almost 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are adding almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are up more than 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Liontown Resources are skyrocketing more than 60 percent after it rejected a A$2.5 per share buyout offer from lithium producer Albemarle Corp which valued the company at A$5.5 billion.

In economic news, the total value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on month in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday – coming in at A$35.141 billion. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 0.1 percent and was down from 1.9 percent in January. On a yearly basis, retail sales climbed 6.4 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.669 on Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly higher in choppy trading on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 staying a tad below the 27,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with financial stocks gaining amid easing worries about global banking sector woes.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,497.45, up 20.58 points or 0.07 percent, after touching a high of 27,603.45 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 1 percent and Toyota is also up more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 1 percent each, while Screen Holdings is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 3 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are adding more than 3 percent each.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Canon is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are edging up 0.5 percent each. Sony is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Resona Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent, while Dai-ichi Life,
Otsuka Holdings, JGC Holdings and Mazda Motor are adding more than 3 percent each. Inpex, Mitsubishi Motors, T&D Holdings, Chiba Bank, Pacific Metals, Dowa Holdings and NTN Corp. are all up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 130 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.8 percent each. Taiwan is bucking the trend and is down 0.7 percent. China is relatively flat.

On the Wall Street, stocks indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday after posting strong gains last week. While the major averages all moved to the upside in early trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq swung back and forth across the unchanged line before closing in negative territory.

The Nasdaq slid 55.12 points or 0.5 percent to 11,768.83, while the Dow climbed 194.55 points or 0.6 percent to 32,432.08 and the S&P 500 rose 6.54 points or 0.2 percent to 3,977.53.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index both advanced by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid concerns about oil supply after Russian President Vladmir Putin said he will station tactical nuclear weapons in ally Belarus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May surged $3.55 or 5.1 percent at $72.81 a barrel.

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