Asian Shares Advance As Investors Await U.S. Inflation Data

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(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose on Tuesday, the dollar slipped, and Treasury bond yields remained pressured as investors remained convinced that key U.S. inflation data due later in the day would show an easing in price pressures on an annual basis.

Gold edged higher in Asian trading on dollar weakness while oil prices dropped around 1 percent after the U.S. government announced it would release more crude from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) at a time when U.S. crude markets are flush with supply.

Chinese shares eked out modest gains after reports that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is considering meeting top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference this week.

The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.28 percent to 3,293.28 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index reversed course to end 0.24 percent lower at 21,113.76.

Japanese shares rose notably, and the yen advanced after the formal nomination of academic Kazuo Ueda as the next Bank of Japan governor.

Investors shrugged off weak data showing that the economy rebounded much less than expected in the fourth quarter.

The Nikkei average climbed 0.64 percent to 27,602.77 while the broader Topix index ended 0.78 percent higher at 1,993.09. Citizen Watch Co. soared 16.2 percent on share buyback news.

Seoul stocks snapped a three-day losing streak amid buying by institutions and foreign investors. The Kospi average gained 0.53 percent to settle at 2,465.64.

LG Electronics soared 5.7 percent on rosy expectations of its electric vehicle component business while Samsung SDI and SK Hynix jumped 2-3 percent.

Australian markets ended slightly higher after three consecutive sessions of losses. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.18 percent to 7,430.90 while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 0.19 percent to settle at 7,628.60.

Tech and telecommunications stocks topped the gainers list, with Telstra rising 1 percent to a near one-year high. Wisetech Global and Afterpay owner Block both added around 3.1 percent.

Fiber cement maker James Hardie Industries slumped 4.3 percent after cutting its profit guidance for the full year. Likewise, safety garment manufacturer Ansell plunged 8.7 percent after lowering its earnings per share guidance amid falling sales.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index finished marginally lower at 12,074.47.

U.S. stocks rose sharply overnight after closing out their worst weekly performance of 2023 on Friday.

The Dow and the S&P 500 both climbed around 1.1 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.5 percent despite lingering worries about the outlook for inflation and interest rates.

Swiss Shares Extend Losing Streak

The Swiss stock market closed under pressure again on Tuesday, stretching its losing streak to three sessions while giving up more than 130 points or 1.1 percent in that span.

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Eurozone Inflation Path Suggests ECB Unlikely To Cut Rates Further

Euro area inflation modestly accelerated to a four-month high, and the core figure was steady around the 2 percent target in August as a slight slowing in both food price growth and services inflation was offset by a smaller decline in energy prices, which suggests that the European Central Bank is set to hold interest rates steady in future policy sessions.

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European Markets Finish In The Red On Tuesday

The major European markets finished firmly under water on Tuesday after Eurostat data showed Eurozone inflation rose to 2.1 percent last month, climbing above the European Central Bank's 2 percent target for the first time since April driven by higher prices for food, alcohol and tobacco.

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U.S. Construction Spending Unexpectedly Edges Lower In July

A report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday showed construction spending in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the month of July. The Commerce Department said construction spending slipped by 0.1 percent to an annual rate of $2.139 trillion in July after falling by 0.4 to a revised rate of $2.141 trillion in June.

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