SINGAPORE – Shares in Asia-Pacific were mostly lower on Tuesday after a positive start to the week, and investors digested the minutes of a meeting of Australia’s central bank.
of Hong Kong Hang Seng Index The Hang Seng Tec Index fell 0.43% and the Hang Seng Tec Index by 0.88% in the last hour of trading.
in Australia, S&P/ASX 200 It closed at 6,649.6, down 0.56%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia released its meeting minutes on Tuesday, Which showed that the board viewed current rates as “far below” the neutral rate, suggesting that further increases would be needed to bring inflation back on target over time.
It is quite likely that the market will remain volatile in the short term.
Suresh Tantia
Senior Investment Strategist, Credit Suisse
The RBA had earlier this month hiked rates by 50 basis points. “Interest rate levels were still too low for an economy facing a tight labor market and periods of high inflation,” the minutes said.
Australian Dollar Consolidated to $0.6859.
Markets in Mainland China and South Korea were mixed.
Shanghai Composite was slightly higher at 3,279.43 and Shenzhen Components slipped 0.3% to 12,494.77.
kospi It closed 0.18% lower at 2,370.97 while the Kosdaq rose 0.72% to 782.33.
Japanese markets returned to trading on Tuesday after a holiday on Monday and bucked the trend in the region. Nikkei 225 The Topix index rose 0.54% to 1,902.79, up 0.65% to 26,961.68.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.35%.
Major indices in the sector rose at least 1% on Monday, with Hong Kong shares gaining and closing up 2.7%.
But there remains uncertainty over the trajectory of inflation and what the Fed will do, said Suresh Tantia, senior investment strategist at Credit Suisse.
“It is quite likely that the market will remain volatile in the short term,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Tuesday.
currencies and oil
US Dollar IndexThe greenback, who tracks against a basket of his teammates, was at 107.181, a draw from last week’s level.
“In our view, the path of least resistance for the USD is to continue the upward trend due to poor global growth outlook,” Carol Kong, a senior associate in international economics and currency strategy at the Commonwealth Bank, wrote in a Tuesday note.
Japanese yen 137.89 per dollar, which is still stronger than the levels seen last week.
Oil futures rose higher in afternoon trading in Asia after jumping nearly 5% on Monday. US West Texas Intermediate Crude Futures were up 0.29% at $102.90 a barrel while international benchmarks crude oil It rose 0.22% to $106.50 a barrel.