(RTTNews) - The stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region extended gains to close mostly higher on Tuesday despite the overnight negative cues from Wall Street. Exporters rose on the back of a stronger U.S. dollar, while energy stocks advanced on higher crude oil prices. In late Asian trades, crude oil was trading at above $50 per barrel. The U.S. dollar was trading in the lower 94-yen range in late trades Tokyo on hopes of an economic upswing in the U.S. due to the large-scale stimulus package planned by president-elect Barack Obama

U.S. stocks snapped a three-day winning streak to end Monday’s session lower. The weakness came as investors shrugged off some positive news and cashed in on last week’s gains. The Dow closed down 81.80 points or 0.9% at 8,952.89, while the Nasdaq ended the session down 4.18 points or 0.3% at 1,628.03 and the S&P 500 finished down 4.35 points or 0.5% at 927.45.

Crude oil prices advanced in late Asian trades Tuesday to $50.13, up $1.32 or 2.70% from Monday’s close. Crude oil surged in Monday’s trading and reached a monthly high as the conflict in the Middle East and a dispute between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas heightened fears of supply disruption. Light sweet crude for February delivery closed at $48.81 on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday, up $2.47, or 5.33%, on the session.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen as well as the Australian and New Zealand currencies, while it weakened against the South Korean won.

In late trades Tokyo, the dollar was quoted in a range of 94.00-94.02 yen, up 1.99 yen from Monday’s close of 92.01-92.03 yen in Tokyo. In Seoul, the South Korean won closed trading at 1,312.5 won to the dollar, up from Monday’s close of 1,313.5 won. In late trades Sydney, the Australian dollar was trading in a range of US$0.7115-US$0.7120, down from Monday’s close of US$0.7130-US$0.7138. In Wellington, the New Zealand dollar was buying US$0.5879 in late trades, down from US$0.5898 in late trades Monday.

The Japanese stock market closed higher for the sixth straight session on Tuesday, as a weaker yen boosted export-oriented stocks. The market also continued to be underpinned by optimism about stimulus measures to be implemented by the U.S. under the new leadership of President-elect Barack Obama.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index advanced 37.72 points, or 0.42%, to close at 9,080.84 and the broader Topix Index of all First Section Issues gained 0.29 points, or 0.03%, to settle at 876.20. Tuesday was the first full day of trading in the New Year.

On the economic front, the Bank of Japan said that Japan’s monetary base was up 1.8% on year in December, standing at 92.435 trillion yen. That follows a 1.9% annual increase in November to 88.85 trillion yen. Seasonally adjusted, the monetary base was up 0.1 percent to 90.45 trillion yen. For the fourth quarter of 2008, the monetary base gained 1.7% on year. For all of 2008, the monetary base added an annual 0.1%.

Banking stocks closed mostly lower. Mitsubishi UFJ eased 0.18%, Mizuho Financial slid 3.02% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial gave away 1.19%. Resona Holdings added 0.28%.

Automaker Toyota advanced 1.33% despite the company saying on Monday that its December U.S. sales dropped more than 36% from a year ago. Honda added 1.69%, Mazda gained 2.53%, while Nissan rose 2.40%. Among export-oriented stocks, Canon rose 4.95%, Komatsu gained 4.69%, Sharp climbed 14.35% and Sony gained 7.61%. Toshiba Corp. jumped 9.36% after its unit Westinghouse Electric and partner Shaw Group signed a contract to build two nuclear plants in the U.S.

In the tech space, Advantest gained 1.39% and Kyocera rose 2.73%. Fanuc declined 1.18%. Among oil stocks, Inpex Holdings slipped 2.08%, Nippon Oil dipped 2.03% and Showa Shell eased 0.11%. Trading house Mitsubishi erased early gains and was down 1.18%, while Marubeni eased 0.85%. Itochu added 0.64%.

The Nikkei business daily reported that Nomura Holdings is likely to book a third-quarter valuation loss of more than 50 billion yen on its stake in Fortress Investment Group. The company’s stock lost 2.87%.

The South Korean stock market closed higher for the fourth straight session as tech stocks gained on higher memory chip prices. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock price Index advanced 20.71 points, or 1.76%, to close at 1,194.28.

In the tech sector, ,market heavyweight Samsung Electronics gained 4.62%, Hynix Semiconductor rose 2.35%, LG. Philips LCD surged 3.48% and LG Electronics climbed 3.83%.

Banking stocks closed mostly higher. Woori Finance jumped 5.41% and KB Financial, the holding firm of Kookmin Bank, gained 3.09%, while Korea Exchange Bank lost 1.57%. Automaker Hyundai Motor rose 2.22% and Ssangyong Motor climbed 14.91%. Cash-strapped Ssangyong said on Monday that it received $45 million in financial aid from its Chinese parent Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. in a bid to keep it afloat. Steel maker POSCO advanced 1.63%.

Oil issue SK gained 2.87%and S-Oil added 0.32%. Energy stock KEPCO rose 3.23%. Among airline stocks, Korean Air Line added 0.38% and Asiana Air Line rose 2.48%.

Shipbuilders extended gains from Monday. Daewoo Shipbuilding soared 10.74%, Hyundai Heavy rose 4.62% and Samsung Heavy Industries gained 4.62%.

Telecom issue SK Telecom added 0.49% and KT added 0.49%. Shinsung Holdings, a producer of solar-power materials, rose by the daily limit of 14.92% after the government pledged to spend 50 trillion won on “green” development projects.

The Australian stock market closed higher on Tuesday to a near two-month closing high, led by financial stocks. Energy stocks gained on higher oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 55.70 points or 1.51% to end at 3,742.70 and the broader All Ordinaries Index advanced 50.30 points or 1.38% to settle at 3,689.20.

Among a raft of economic news, activity in Australia’s services sector contracted for the ninth consecutive month in December, according to a report published Tuesday by the Australian Industry Group and Commonwealth Bank. The group’s Performance of Services Index, or PSI, increased 1.5 points from November to a reading of 39.3. Index readings below 50.0 indicate a contraction of activity in the measured sector.

Motor vehicle sales in Australia increased in December when compared to November, according to a report issued by the Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. However, sales were well below the levels of December 2007. The group said vehicle sales totaled 76,510 in December 2008, a seasonally adjusted 8.8% increase over November. Compared to the previous December, sales were down 11.3%, an improvement over the November on-year decrease of 22.2%.

A report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that total accommodation takings in hotels, motels and serviced apartments in Australia by tourists fell a seasonally adjusted 2.7% in the September quarter, compared with June quarter. The statistical office said this was the first decline in the takings since the March quarter of 2004. The total accommodation takings were valued A$1,964.8 million.

The results of the investor confidence survey by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry revealed that business conditions continued to worsen over the December quarter of 2008, with expectations for the first quarter of 2009 being at record lows. The index for the own business conditions during the current period declined to 53.5 in the December quarter from 57.3 in the September quarter. The index measuring expected own business conditions moved down to 50.2 from 55.3 in the previous quarter.

Among banking stocks, Commonwealth Bank rose 3.04%, National Australia Bank gained 2.52%, ANZ Banking Group climbed 2.19% and Westpac surged 2.34%.

In the mining resources sector, index leader BHP Billiton added 0.22%, while Rio Tinto gained 2.65% after the company said it resumed iron ore operations in Pilbara region following suspension of activities for almost a fortnight.

However, gold stocks closed mixed. Lihir Gold slumped 8.97% and Sino Gold eased 0.84%, while Newcrest Mining advanced 1.22%. The price of gold in Sydney at 16.18 pm local time was $US850.75 per fine ounce, down $US23.30 on Monday’s close of $US874.05.

Energy stocks gained on higher oil prices. Santos rose 2.64%, Woodside Petroleum gained 2.22% and Oil Search added 0.88%. In the retail sector, David Jones lost 2.24%, while Woolworths gained 2.96% and Coles’ owner Wesfarmers advanced 2.11%. Among media stocks, News Corp. gained 1.72% and Consolidated Media jumped 5.67%.

Construction company Leighton Holdings plunged 11.75% after the company cut its full-year profit forecast amid writedowns of A$200 million due to the global financial crisis.

The New Zealand stock market extended gains to close higher for the third straight session, led by the top stocks. The benchmark NZX 50 Index gained 38.49 points, or 1.40% to settle at 2,783.38, while the broader NZX All Capital Index gained 35.22 points, or 1.28% to finish at 2,783.59.

Among the top stocks, Telecom rose 2.62%, Contact Energy advanced 1.35% and Fletcher Building gained 1.38%.

In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson advanced 2.33%, Pumpkin Patch surged 4.17%, The Warehouse Group rose 2.87% and jeweler Michael Hill jumped 5.56%. Warehouse said sales for the ten weeks to January 4 were down 2.5% from a year ago.

Among other notable stocks, Auckland International Airport advanced 1.19%, Fisher & Paykel Appliances gained 2.96% and Steel & Tube added 0.63%. Goodman Property Trust rose 4.17%. Nuplex eased 0.33% and Sky City declined 0.95%. Energy stock TrustPower added 0.27% and Vector advanced 0.49%.

Among dual-listed stocks, AMP eased 0.15%, ANZ Banking gained 2.19% and Westpac advanced 1.46%.

Other Asian markets:

China’s Shanghai Composite Index surged 56 points or 3.00% to close at 1,937, India’s BSE 30 Index rose 60 points or 0.59% to settle at 10,336, Taiwan’s Weighted Index advanced 29 points or 0.62% to finish at 4,727 and Malaysia’s KLSE Composite Index added 2 points to close at 922. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 54 points or 0.35% to settle at 15,510, Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 11 points or 0.58% to end at 1,914 and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index gave away 2 points or 0.13% to close at 1,436.

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