Asian Stocks Track Wall Street Gains With Corporate Earnings In Focus

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region extended their gains on Tuesday, taking overnight cues from Wall Street's record closing as traders geared up for corporate earnings.

The Australian benchmark S&P ASX 200 was 51 points, or 0.62% higher at 8,252, while the Japanese Nikkei 225 was up 516 points, or 1.36%, at 40,141 as of 5:46 a.m.

Chinese stocks advanced on Monday after initial volatility amid disappointment in the policy briefing and worsening deflationary woes. A gauge of US-listed Chinese shares fell more than 2% overnight.

Crude oil prices plunged as concerns about Israel attacking Iranian oil or nuclear facilities eased. Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu informed the Biden administration that he's willing to strike Iran's military rather than oil or nuclear facilities, the Washington Post reported.

Brent crude was trading 2.80% lower at $75.29 a barrel as of 5:50 a.m. IST. West Texas Intermediate was down 2.83% at $71.74.

Meanwhile, with the corporate earnings in the US set to drive the stock market, the S&P 500 registered its 46th record high this year.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. rose ahead of results on Monday while Apple Inc. gained on a bullish analyst call. Nvidia Corp. led gains in megacap stocks.

The S&P 500 firms are expected to post their weakest results in the past four quarters. However, corporate guidance implies a jump of about 16%, suggesting a strong outlook, according to Bloomberg.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.77% and 0.87%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.47%.

Elsewhere, the Indian sovereign bonds that are eligible for global debt inclusion saw their first weekly outflow since getting added to JPMorgan Chase & Co’s emerging-market bond index. Further, the country's inflation rose to a nine-month high, keeping the Reserve Bank of India on the edge.