Most Asian stocks were rangebound on Tuesday, cooling after recent gains as mixed signals on U.S. interest rates and regulatory moves from President Donald Trump spurred heightened caution.
Regional pharmaceutical stocks were also rattled by Trump’s warning on links between autism and vaccines and popular painkiller Tylenol.
Chinese stocks slid more than 1% as local technology stocks retreated from a stellar rally over the past month. Hong Kong shares were especially hit by this trade.
Regional trading volumes were subdued on account of a Japanese holiday, while investors kept to the sidelines in anticipation of several key U.S. economic prints this week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Futures rose 0.1% after the index surged back to near record highs on Monday.
Asian markets took some positive cues from a strong overnight close on Wall Street, with U.S. stocks hitting record highs on gains in NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). But this momentum was also seen fading into the Asian session, with S&P 500 Futures flat in regional trade.
Risk aversion also remained squarely in play, with gold prices hitting fresh record highs in Asian trade.
Taiwanese suppliers Nvidia and Apple TSMC (TW:2330) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (TW:2317) (Foxconn) were outliers in Asia, rising around 2% each. Nvidia on Monday announced a $100 billion investment in OpenAI, sending its shares higher by nearly 4%, while optimism over improving iPhone demand boosted Apple shares.
Source : Investing.com