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Asia shares subdued, yen hits a record low versus euro

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MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3%, after dropping 1.4% in the last three sessions

Asian shares were subdued on Tuesday while the yen reached a record low versus the euro, although the risk of intervention stemmed further weakness against the U.S. dollar.

Treasuries were little changed as caution set in ahead of key U.S. price data on Friday. With the first U.S. presidential debate on Thursday and the first round of voting in the French election at the weekend, investors remain cautious of how political shifts in major economies could impact their positions.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3%, after dropping 1.4% in the last three sessions. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.5%.

MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan IT index slipped 0.5%. Taiwanese shares dropped 0.4%.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq dipped more than 1%, dragged down by a 7% decline by AI company Nvidia as investors rotated out of technology stocks. The Dow Jones, however, rallied 0.7% to a one-month high.

S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were flat.

It is difficult to extrapolate what can be attributed to technical factors and what are fundamentals in the markets, with price action apparently driven by end-of-month and end-of-quarter positioning, according to Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com.

A sell-down in tech, despite little shift in rates expectations and the outlook for earnings, may signal a trimming by investors of the quarter’s big winners, Rodda added.

Chinese stocks were marginally up, with the blue chips eking out a slight gain of 0.1% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.9%.

In a worrying sign about the health of Chinese consumers, e-commerce sales dropped for the first time during the “618 shopping festival” that ended last week, reports said.

The dollar slipped a little overnight after recent broad-based gains. The dollar index was last flat at 105.46, having dropped 0.3% overnight against major currencies.

The yen advanced 0.1% to 159.45 per dollar, although it is still near levels not seen since late April when the Japanese authorities intervened in the market to stem the currency’s rapid declines.

The currency, however, kept weakening against other major currencies, with the euro breaking major resistance to reach a record high of 171.49 yen overnight. It was last 0.1% lower at 171.08 yen.

The Australian dollar also jumped for a sixth consecutive session to 106.38 yen, a 17-year high owing to persistent demand for carry trades.

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