Asian Markets Mostly Lower As Crude Oil Prices Extend Losses

[Sergey Golubev]

Asian Markets Mostly Lower As Crude Oil Prices Extend Losses

Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Tuesday despite the positive cues overnight from Wall Street, as crude oil prices tumbled more than 15 percent and extended losses from Monday.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday amid mounting fears that storage around the world could reach full capacity soon and production cuts may not be enough to offset the huge fall in demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Australian market is extending gains from the previous session following the positive cues from Wall Street on improved investor sentiment as several U.S. states start to reopen their economies following coronavirus-related shutdowns. Expectations of additional stimulus from global central banks also lifted shares.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 26.00 points or 0.49 percent to 5,347.40, after rising to a high of 5,362.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is advancing 25.50 points or 0.47 percent to 5,413.80. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is gaining almost 4 percent, ANZ Banking is rising 2.0 percent and Commonwealth Bank is advancing more than 1 percent. National Australia Bank is losing almost 3 percent.

Westpac said it will incur a pre-tax impairment charge of A$2.24 billion in the first half of the year mainly due to the economic impact of COVID-19. The bank is slated to report its first-half results next week.

In the oil sector, Santos is lower by 2 percent and Woodside Petroleum is down 0.3 percent while Oil Search is adding 0.4 percent after crude oil futures tumbled almost 25 percent overnight.

In the mining space, BHP is advancing almost 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is lower by 0.3 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.1 percent.

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