Asian stocks climb in range-bound trade
seoul — Asian stocks were mostly higher in range-bound trade on Tuesday after Wall Street closed mixed, while Asian tech shares mirrored losses in US peers overnight.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 per cent to 20,225.09 while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.1 per cent to 2,391.95. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 0.1 per cent lower to 25,852.77. China’s Shanghai Composite Index added 0.2 per cent to 3,191.20. Australia’s S&P/ ASX 200 slipped 0.1 per cent to 5,714.20. Stocks fell in Taiwan were lower but gained in Singapore and the Philippines.
“Heading into the half-way mark for 2017, the absence of tier-one data releases or a coherent theme in markets is hard to ignore. On the whole, a fading external demand boost from earlier in the year may be gaining some attention,” Mizuho Bank said in a commentary.
Some Asian tech shares tracked the sector’s losses on Wall Street overnight. Tech stocks were among the biggest decliners on Monday, reflecting indecisiveness over the sector, said Jingyi Pan of IG. LG Electronics fell 3.3 per cent while SoftBank Group declined 0.1 per cent and Sharp Corp dropped 0.5 per cent.
Wall Street closed mostly higher on Monday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was nearly flat at 2,439.07. The Dow gained 0.1 per cent to 21,409.55 while the Nasdaq composite index slid 0.3 per cent to 6,247.15.
Investors will pay attention to upcoming remarks by central bankers around the world but do not expect major revelations on monetary policies. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, was scheduled to speak at the ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal, later in the day. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen was due to speak in London.
The dollar fell to 111.48 yen from 111.84 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.1219 from $1.1185. — AP