Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, as Australian investors anticipate today's RBA decision on interest rates.

ASX futures were down 0.2% or 11 points as of 8:00am on Tuesday, suggesting a lower open.

US stocks posted small advances following last week's strong gains as investors sift through latest earnings and economic data. Major indexes rallied last week on hopes the Fed's rate hike cycle is near its end.

The dollar strengthened modestly along with Treasury yields, while oil prices got a slight lift after Saudi Arabia and Russia confirmed plans to extend production cuts through the end of the year.

Information technology and health care were the best performers, while real estate and energy fell over 1%.

DJIA rose 34 points to 34095, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 4365 and the Nasdaq added 0.3% to 13518.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil fell 2.3% to US$84.89 a barrel while gold rose 0.4% to US$1,992.65.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was lower at 4.34% while the 10 Year yield was also down at 4.72%. US Treasury notes were down, with the 2 Year yield at 4.84% and the 10 Year yield at 4.57%.

The Australian dollar hit 64.88 US cents down from the previous close of 65.11. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was up at 99.55.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher amid U.S. dollar weakness after Fed Chair Powell's dovish comments and latest lackluster U.S. economic data. Given the highly inverted correlation between USD/CNH with the China benchmark stock index, a further breakdown below 7.2675 may trigger potential multimonth gains in China equities, Oanda analyst Kelvin Wong said in a note. Financial and software stocks led gains. Citic Securities rose 4.4% and East Money Information was 2.8% higher. Beijing Kingsoft Office Software advanced 6.3% and iFlytek put up 3.0%. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9% to 3058.41, the Shenzhen Composite Index was 2.1% higher and the tech-heavy ChiNext Price Index added 3.3%.

Hong Kong shares closed higher amid positive sentiment fueled by expectations the Federal Reserve is finished hiking rates, Saxo market strategist Redmond Wong said. However, investors should be wary of potential misses in corporate earnings due to still-high interest rates, Natixis senior economist Gary Ng said. The healthcare sector topped gains in the Hong Kong bourse. Sino Biopharmaceutical rose 5.7% and Wuxi Biologics (Cayman) advanced 4.5%. The property sector also gained, with Longfor Group Holdings and Country Garden Services rising 5.85% and 5.1%, respectively. The energy sector led losses, with PetroChina down 3.4% and China Shenhua Energy losing 3.05%. The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 1.7% higher at 17966.59 and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 4.1%.

Japanese stocks ended higher, led by gains in electronics stocks, as concerns eased about borrowing costs following soft U.S. jobs data on Friday. Renesas Electronics gained 8.9% and Advantest climbed 8.2%. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.4% to 32708.48. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield fell 4.5 basis points to 0.870%. Investors are focusing on earnings, as well as any potential escalation in the Middle East conflict.

Indian shares closed higher, tracking Asian peers and following Friday's rally on Wall Street. Market sentiment has been boosted by optimism the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rates hikes are now done.The benchmark Sensex rose 0.9% to 64958.69, led by construction and finance stocks. Larsen & Toubro rose 2.3% and Power Grid Corp. of India gained 1.9%. Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance were up 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, State Bank of India led losses, falling 0.65%. Hindustan Unilever and Tata Motors both lost 0.3%.

Europe

European stocks dropped, though Asia markets closed higher. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.1%, the CAC 40 backtracked 0.4% and the DAX retreated 0.2%, with property shares among the biggest fallers. Stocks in Asia made solid gains, with markets in mainland China and Japan rising more than 2% and South Korea's Kospi up nearly 6%. Brent crude advanced 1.2% to $85.90 a barrel. "Softer economic data and more cautious central-bank commentary has tilted investors towards thinking the peak in rates is now behind us. Cuts are now priced in for 2024," IG analysts write.

The FTSE 100 closed flat, outperforming struggling European markets. "After the big gains of last week European markets have spent the day taking a bit of a pause for reflection," CMC Markets UK analyst Michael Hewson says in a market comment. Aerospace manufacturer Melrose Industries was the session's best performer, rising 3.5% after its GKN Aerospace division signed a new deal potentially worth $5 billion. Engineer Rolls-Royce gained from the deal as well, rising 1.45%. Elsewhere, strong results from Ryanair gave the sector a lift, benefiting Wizz Air and easyJet. The London blue-chip index closed at 7,417.76 points.

North America

US stocks posted small advances following last week's strong gains as investors sift through latest earnings and economic data. Major indexes rallied last week on hopes the Fed's rate hike cycle is near its end.

The dollar strengthened modestly along with Treasury yields, while oil prices got a slight lift after Saudi Arabia and Russia confirmed plans to extend production cuts through the end of the year.

Information technology and health care were the best performers, while real estate and energy fell over 1%.

DJIA rose 34 points to 34095, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 4365 and the Nasdaq added 0.3% to 13518.