The Nikkei gained 0.65%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.65%, while Mainland Chinese blue chips slid 0.1%
Asian stocks were mixed in volatile trading on Tuesday as investors awaited big tech earnings reports on Wall Street, kicking off with Google parent Alphabet later in the day.
The dollar drifted not far from a three-month high with one of the Fed’s preferred employment gauges – the JOLTS job openings report – due on Tuesday, ahead of highly anticipated monthly non-farm payrolls data on Friday. U.S. Treasury yields dropped from three-month highs.
The yen found its footing following Monday’s slump to a three-month low as the coalition government’s defeat in weekend elections clouded the outlook for Japanese fiscal and monetary policies. The Nikkei index recovered from a cautious start to build on the previous session’s gains.
The U.S. election has entered its final stretch, with opinion polls still too close to call a winner, despite some betting sites and financial markets leaning toward a win for Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris.
Crude rose marginally following its plunge on Monday on signs the war in the Middle East would not widen, after Israel avoided targeting vital facilities in a retaliatory strike on Iran at the weekend.
The Nikkei gained 0.65% as of 0213 GMT, building on its 1.82% rally in the previous session. It started the day down 0.21%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.65%, paring earlier gains of as much as 1.6%. Mainland Chinese blue chips slid 0.1%, giving up an early gain of 0.68%.
U.S. S&P 500 futures were flat after the cash index added 0.26% overnight.
The conviction to take these markets higher, we just don’t have that, according to Tony Sycamore, a markets analyst at IG. We are in a very, very tricky period here. It just doesn’t make sense to be chasing risk at this time.