Asian shares slip in early trade; HSBC earnings ahead

FAN Editor

Asian shares were moderately lower early on Tuesday after a relatively quiet overnight session, due to U.S. markets being closed for a holiday in the last session.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.86 percent in the early going as financials, manufacturing and energy-related names traded in negative territory, while technology stocks traded mixed.

Automakers were mostly lower, with Toyota down 1.22 percent, although Mitsubishi Motors bucked the trend to climb 2.64 percent. That followed a Nikkei report that Mitsubishi Corporation was looking into raising its stake in Mitsubishi Motors to approximately 20 percent through a tender offer. Mitsubishi Corporation, which traded down 1.59 percent, said it had yet to reach a decision, according to Reuters.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi slipped 0.36 percent in early trade, with the technology and manufacturing sectors a mixed picture in the morning.

Shares of steelmakers Posco and Hyundai Steel were up 1.24 percent and 1.33 percent, respectively. The moves higher came after South Korea’s trade ministry on Monday indicated it would not sit on its hands if the U.S. implemented tariffs on steel imports. Yonhap News Agency said South Korea would weigh filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization if the U.S. decided to impose those tariffs.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 was off by 0.46 percent in morning trade. Most sectors traded in the red, with the heavily weighted financials sub-index slipping 0.4 percent, and the materials sub-index lower by 0.68 percent.

Meanwhile, markets in China, Taiwan and Vietnam will remain closed on Tuesday for the Lunar New Year holiday.

On the earnings front, interim results from mining major BHP are due after the market close in Australia. HSBC is also expected to release its full-year earnings for 2017 during the day.

European stock indexes closed in negative territory on Monday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 finishing the day 0.66 percent lower. Other indexes in the region also closed with moderate losses.

Volumes were weaker than usual due to U.S. markets being closed on Monday for Presidents Day.

Currency markets were steady early on Tuesday after a quiet overnight session. The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of rivals, traded at 89.240 at 8:33 a.m. HK/SIN after rising as high as 89.442 in the last session. The move came after the dollar index slipped as low as 88.253 last week.

Against the yen, the greenback traded at 106.73, off a low of 106.08 touched on Monday.

The Australian dollar was mostly steady at $0.7909 ahead of the release of minutes from the country’s central bank later in the day.

“Currencies remained in well-established ranges overnight as holidays across the U.S. and Asia took their toll on liquidity,” David Plank, head of Australian economics at ANZ, said in a morning note.

“In the near term, the Australian dollar remains trapped. Poor U.S. dollar sentiment continues to provide support, but a low yield structure and unchanged domestic story are providing few catalysts for renewed upside,” he added.

Meanwhile, oil prices extended gains after touching their highest levels in two weeks on Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.62 percent to trade at $62.68 per barrel.

The economic calendar for Tuesday is relatively light (all times in HK/SIN):

  • 3:00 p.m.: Indonesia loan growth

Free America Network Articles

Leave a Reply

Next Post

Can Cardano Replace Bitcoin and Ethereum?

The cryptocurrencies bitcoin, ether, and Ripple have attracted the most interest from investors during the crypto frenzy of the last year. That’s not too surprising, considering they’re the three most valuable tokens by market cap and the only three worth more than $30 billion at the moment. But as the […]