The stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly lower after Wall Street finished in negative territory overnight following the release of a key economic report that showed an increase in the rate of inflation. The resources sector was weak following a drop in commodity prices, but financials were mixed after HSBC reported worse-than-expected results on further asset writedowns. Investors were also cautious ahead of the Fed's monetary policy decision on Tuesday.
Oil prices fell Monday on expectations that the Tropical Storm Edouard will not cause significant damage in the Gulf of Mexico's oil region and after higher Saudi Arabian production raised the OPEC output for a third straight month. Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell US$3.69 to settle at US$121.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its lowest settlement price since May 5. In the Asian session Tuesday, oil has slipped further by more than a dollar to $120.37 a barrel by 21:38 ET.
On Monday, the Dow closed down 42.17 points or 0.4% at 11,284.15, the Nasdaq lost 25.40 points or 1.1% to finish at 2,285.56 and the S&P 500 dropped 11.30 points or 0.9% to end at 1,249.01.
On the currency front, the major Asian currencies were weaker against the U.S. dollar in early trade Tuesday. The dollar strengthened to lower 108-yen levels from upper 107-yen levels late Monday in Tokyo, the South Korean won opened lower at 1,017.7 a dollar, the Australian dollar opened at three-month lows of US$0.9292-0.9296 and the kiwi eased to US$0.73 in early local deals.
The Japanese stock market was trading higher for the first time in three days, led by export-oriented stocks on the back of a weaker yen, and buoyed by the overnight decline in crude oil prices. At 8.30 P.M. ET, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index was advancing 94.67 points to 13,027.85, while the broader Topix Index of all First Section issues was gaining 4.79 points to 1,253.04.
The market has little to digest in terms of economic news on Tuesday.
Export-oriented and tech stocks advanced on the back of a weaker yen even as financial stocks lost ground.
Automaker Honda advanced 0.90%, Mazda rose 3.62%, Nissan gained 2.41% and Toyota climbed 2.47%, while Mitsubishi Motors remained unchanged.
Among consumer product companies, Olympus climbed 2.72%, Sony rose 2.25%, Toshiba added 0.15% and Canon advanced 1.88%.
Toshiba intends to develop transformers to suit nuclear power facilities built by the U.S. subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Co. and sell them in the American market. The move would help it to raise overseas sales in its heavy-electric division.
Sharp said it would raise its production capacity of thin-film solar cells using large glass substrates and aims to halve the manufacturing costs of the cells by 2010. However, the company's stock slid 2.07%.
However, banking stocks lost ground. Mitsubishi UFJ slipped 2.11%, Mizuho Financial lost 2.28%, Sumitomo Mitsui dipped 2.33% and Resona Holdings slid 2.43%. Trading in Orix Corp. and consumer credit company Credit Saison were suspended as the two are reportedly in merger talks.
In the tech sector, Advantest rose 2.06%, Tokyo Electron climbed 2.88%, NEC advanced 0.82% and Fanuc gained 1.57%. Also, Fujitsu added 0.80%, Kyocera climbed 2.20% and Matsushita Electrical Industrial added 1.53%.
Oil & gas explorer Inpex Holdings slid 4.29% and Nippon Mining Holdings declined 1.13%, while Nippon Oil added 1.30%.
The South Korean market was trading flat after a weak opening. At 9:06 p.m. ET, the benchmark KOSPI index was advancing 2.53 points or 0.16% to 1,545.58, ending a two-day losing streak.
Among technology stocks, Hynix Semiconductors rose 0.5% and market heavyweight Samsung Electronics added 0.4%. LG Display plunged 3.7%, while LG Electronics was unchanged.
Automaker Hyundai Motor edged up 0.3%, but steel major POSCO plummeted 3.8%. Leading lender KookMin Bank jumped 2.8%, Shinhan Financial Group surged 3.2% and Woori Finance surged 3.4%. Brokerage Mirae Asset Securities advanced 0.5%.
The Australian stock market was trading sharply lower, extending losses for a third day. Resources stocks were down on lower commodity prices, including gold and oil. At 9:16 p.m. ET, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 104 points or 2.12% at 4,784 and the broader All Ordinaries index was losing 106 points or 2.14% to 4,851.
On the economic front, the Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australia Performance of Services Index for July dropped 2.6 points to 42.8 points from June. It marked the fourth straight month of readings below the 50.0 mark that separates growth in the sector from contraction. The July reading was the lowest since the survey was begun in February 2003.
Further, the investors await the outcome of the Reserve Bank of Australian's monetary policy board meeting. Analysts expect the central bank to leave interest rates unchanged at 7.25%.
Among banking stocks, Commonwealth Bank was up 1.11%, ANZ Bank edged up 0.30%, while Westpac edged down 0.90%. National Australia Bank edged down 0.62%, St. George bank was down 0.93%, and investment bank Macquarie Group was flat.
In the resources sector, index leader BHP Billiton fell 4.88% and Rio Tinto lost 4.67%. Gold miners were weak, as gold fell on Monday in line with oil prices. Newcrest Mining dropped 6.63%, while Lihir Gold fell 5.56%.
Among energy stocks, Woodside dropped 4.50%, Oil Search fell 5.49%, and Santos slipped 5.04%.
In the retail sector, David Jones was up 2.39%, Coles owner Wesfarmer lost 3.07%, and Woolworths edged up 0.27%.
The New Zealand market opened slightly lower, with the benchmark NZX50 index losing 4.86 points or 0.15% to 3,314.35 shortly after the market opened for the day. Meanwhile, the NZX All Capital Index fell 8.54 points or 0.25% to 3,350.08.
On Tuesday's economic data docket, the Australian and New Zealand Banking Group is scheduled to release its July Commodity Price Index report for New Zealand. The index was flat in June. Tuesday's report is due to be published at 19:30 ET.
In the early trading on the New Zealand stock market on Tuesday, top ranked share Telecom posted a loss of 1.06%. The second ranked Contact Energy remained unchanged as Fletcher Building, the third best stock, slipped 0.32%.
In the retail sector Hallenstein Glasson dropped 1.75%, while Pumpkin Patch fell 0.67%. Warehouse and jewelry retailer Michael Hill remained unchanged.
In the energy sector TrustPower and Vector remained unchanged in the day's early trading.
Among other notable stocks Nuplex, Infratil, Sky Network Television and Steel & Tube Holdings remained unchanged, while Sky City eased 0.29%.
Among the dual listed issues eased 0.05%, while AMP, Australia and NZ Banking Corp, APN News & Media, Lion Nathan and Telstra remained as Westpac Bank gave up 0.37%.
Early gainers included Auckland International Airport by 0.51%, Air New Zealand by 0.81%, Cavalier Corp by 2.08%, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare by 0.70%, Goodman Fielder by 1.74%, Guinness Peat Group by 1.41% and Ryman Healthcare by 0.61.
Decliners in the early trading included- Freightways by 0.32%, Kiwi Income Property Trust by 0.91%, New Zealand Oil & Gas by 3.03%, Pike River Coal by 0.98% and Tower by 0.97%.
Other Asian markets:
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 1.6% at 22,149; China's Shanghai composite index was down 0.6% at 2,724; Singapore's Straits Times index was down 0.7% at 2,857; Taiwan's weighted index was down 2.0% at 6,841; and Malaysia's KLCI was down 13.3 points at 1,135.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.