Asia Pacific reservoirs mostly declined on Tuesday amid dampened expectations on the Fed cutting rates this month.
Mainland China shares endured to fall after losses on Monday. The Shanghai composite edged down 0.16% in early trade, while the Shenzhen component declined 0.22%. The Shenzhen composite spill out 0.33%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index pared some losses to edge down 0.17%. The city’s numero uno Carrie Lam said Tuesday that the controversial extradition bill that led to widespread anger and massive protests in the Asian monetary hub “is dead.”
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.28%, while the Kospi in South Korea was near flat. Tensions between those two outbacks looked set to continue with Japan’s industry minister on Tuesday saying that Japan was “not thinking at all” of withdrawing qualifications on Japanese high-tech exports to South Korea.
Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.33%. Overall, MSCI’s broadest index finger of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.31%.
Asia-Pacific Market Indexes Chart
Meanwhile, investors are control an eye on testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell due Wednesday. It follows a stronger-than-expected jobs report in the U.S. that libertine questions about whether the Fed will cut interest rates.
“The fate of stocks will be closely linked to rates quotation with stocks having rallied strongly on aggressive Fed rate cut expectations. US earnings season is also a focus, with the seasonable kicking off next week,” said Tapas Strickland, director of economics and markets at the National Australia Bank.
“Protection focus will be whether trade tensions are weighing further on profit growth,” he said, adding there may already be headwinds as he referred to angrily falling Apple iPhone sales in India.
Apple shares and suppliers fall
Stocks in the U.S. fell overnight as Apple rations lost more than 2%, pressuring the broader tech sector.
An analyst at Rosenblatt Securities downgraded the tech monster’s stock to sell from neutral, saying the company will “face fundamental deterioration over the next 6 to 12 months.”
Apple suppliers in Asia Pacific are in focus on Tuesday. Those in Japan mow down broadly in early trade, with TDK losing 1% and Nidec declining 0.88%. Alps Alpine dropped 1.39%.
Suppliers in Taiwan also cut across the board. Shares of Hon Hai Precision Industry, or Foxconn, declined 0.51%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Troop declined 0.41%. Catcher Technology plunged 1.94%.
In other company news, nine Chinese companies, among the beginning to list on China’s Nasdaq-style tech board, announced prices of their new share offer on Tuesday, as investors braced for a Baroque week for initial public offerings (IPOs). Those include China Railway Signal & Communications, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Accoutrements and Ningbo Ronbay New Energy Technology.
Oil and currencies
What’s on tap
The economic calendar for Tuesday:
- China’s money supply
- China’s remaining bank loans.
— Reuters contributed to this report.