EQUITIES
Shares in the Asia-Pacific were mostly lower Tuesday after a positive start to the week.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index leading losses, dropping 1.26%. Mainland China markets were also lower, with the Shanghai Composite slipping 0.52%.
South Korea’s KOSPI shed 0.46% while in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.62%. Singapore’s FTSE Straits Times Index was down 0.12%.
Japanese markets returned to trade Tuesday after a holiday on Monday and bucked the trend in the region. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.54%.
Overnight on Wall Street, major U.S. stock indexes pulled back and closed lower after rallying earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.69%, to 31,071.75, the S&P 500 lost 0.84%, to 3,830.82, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.81%, to 11,360.05.
OIL
Oil struggling for direction on Tuesday after jumping around 5% on Monday.
Oil prices have been whipsawed between concerns about supply as Western sanctions on Russian crude and fuel supplies over the Ukraine conflict have disrupted trade flows, and rising worries that central bank efforts to tame surging inflation may trigger a recession that would cut future fuel demand.
The market also cautiously awaits the monumental event risk if Nord Stream 1 gas flow from Russia to Europe will resume later this week.
International benchmark Brent crude was flat at $105.79 per barrel. The contract rose 5.1% on Monday, the biggest percentage gain since April 12.
Meanwhile the U.S. WTI crude futures were 0.14% higher at $102.25 per barrel, also climbed 5.1% on Monday in its largest percentage gain since May 11.
CURRENCIES
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 107.355, pulling back from last week’s levels as markets reduced the odds of a percentage-point Federal Reserve rate hike this month.
The U.S. benchmark 10-year yield was 2.974%, having struggled so far this month to break far in either direction from the 3% level. The two-year yield was at 3.170%.
GOLD
Gold prices were stuck in a tight range as investors refrained from making big bets ahead of key central bank meetings.
Spot gold added 0.06% to $1,710.30 per ounce, after falling to its lowest in nearly a year last week. U.S. gold futures slipped 0.11% to $1,708.40.
Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.3% to $18.61 per ounce and platinum slipped 0.6% toS$857.40, while palladium climbed 1.2% to $1,877.89.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian shares slipped on Tuesday, as main focus was on central bank meetings and the early stages of the U.S. earnings season.
Recession fears have dominated trading sentiment in recent weeks as market participants worry that aggressive action from the central banks — to tame decades-high inflation — will ultimately tip the economy into a recession.
The European Central Bank and Bank of Japan both meet on Thursday, with the ECB widely expected to begin raising rates from their pandemic era lows with a 25-basis point hike, while little change is expected from the ultra-dovish BoJ.
Markets also reduced the odds of a percentage-point Federal Reserve rate hike this month. Bets for supersized easing ramped up last week after data showed U.S. inflation, already at a four-decade high, continued to accelerate in June. But some Federal Reserve officials were quick to throw cold water on such talk, and figures from Friday showed an easing of consumer inflation expectations to the lowest in a year.
In Europe, as the region deals with its own inflationary pressures, Russia's Gazprom told customers in Europe it cannot guarantee gas supplies because of "extraordinary" circumstances, according to a letter from Gazprom that will add to European fears of fuel shortages.
Corporates report earnings will be on show this week including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Bank of America Corp, International Business Corp, Netflix Inc, Tesla Inc and Twitter Inc.
