Mainland Chinese stocks lead losses in Asia amid continued investor caution over Russia-Ukraine war
Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Tuesday, with mainland Chinese stocks leading losses regionally the Russia-Ukraine war continued weighing on investor sentiment.
Mainland China’s Shanghai composite fell 2.35% to close at 3,293.53 while the Shenzhen component fell 2.616% to 12,244.50. The CSI 300 index, which tracks the largest mainland-listed stocks, shed 2.01% to 4,265.39.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong, which led losses among the region’s major markets on Monday, continued declining as it slipped 1.71% as of its final hour of trading.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 1.71% to 24,790.95 — its lowest close since early Nov. 2020 — while the Topix index shed 1.9% to 1,759.86. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 1.09%, finishing the trading day at 2,622.40.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.83% to close at 6,980.30.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 1.76% lower.
Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 dropped 2.95% to 4,201.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 797.42 points, or 2.37%, to 32,817.38. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lagged, falling 3.62% to 12,830.96.
The losses on Wall Street came as investors continue to monitor the potential economic hit of disruptions in the global energy supply as the Russia-Ukraine war continues.
Oil moves
Investors continued to monitor moves in the oil markets on Tuesday, with prices rising in the afternoon of Asia trading hours. International benchmark Brent crude futures gained 3.38% to $127.37 per barrel. U.S. crude futures climbed 2.92% to $122.89 per barrel.
Amid the lingering uncertainty from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, oil prices recently spiked momentarily to their highest levels since July 2008.
Regional airline stocks, which are sensitive to oil prices, continued to decline in Tuesday trade.
Shares of Japan Airlines slipped 5.81% while Korean Air Lines in South Korea fell 1.63%.
Over in Southeast Asia, shares of Singapore Airlines slipped 2.21% in afternoon trade. Hong Kong-listed shares of China Eastern Airlines also shed 4.21% and Cathay Pacific dropped 3.07%, as of their final hour of trading.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 99.296 after touching an earlier low of 99.049.
The Japanese yen traded at 115.40 per dollar, following yesterday’s weakening from below 115 against the greenback. The Australian dollar was at $0.7274 after recently declining from above $0.736, shedding some of its gains from last week.
