Most of the Asian major stock markets closed higher on Tuesday, save for Japan and Australia. Despite the gains in some markets such as in China, Taiwan and South Korea, Tuesday’s session was characterized by cautious trading.
Investors are keeping their eyes on the meeting of the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan officials this week. In the U.S., expectations of at least one interest rate hike by the Fed this year have increased following the release of encouraging economic data for June.
In Japan, central bank officials are widely expected to roll out additional easing measures to keep the country from falling into recession. But some experts predict that BOJ officials could conduct additional easing policies until next month to align such policies with government fiscal stimulus.
Efforts by the BOJ to trim lending rates and devalue the yen have largely failed to spark inflation in the country, thus piling more pressure on monetary and fiscal regulators to come up with more heterodox and dangerous measures to keep consumer prices rising in the country, though it is unclear why rising prices is a good thing.
How Asian shares performed
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 (INDEXNIKKEI:NI225) slipped 1.43%, weighed down by losses in Mining, Finance & Investing and Shipbuilding sectors.
A weaker yen didn’t help boost the appetite for Japanese shares among foreign investors. USDJPY declined 1.36% to 104.37, while EURJPY pulled back 1.23% to 114.91.
In Taiwan, the Taiwan Weighted gained 0.37%, supported by gains in Rubber, Optoelectronic and Trading & Consumer Goods.
Equities in China also printed green with the larger Shanghai Composite rising 1.14% at close after adding 34.34 points to sit at 3,049.54. The smaller HANG SENG INDEX (INDEXHANGSENG:HIS) in Hong Kong gained 0.65%.
In South Korea, the KOSPI jumped 0.75%.
But in Australia, equities followed the trend in Tokyo, with the S&P/ASX 200 falling 0.06%. Losses in the IT, Energy and Gold sectors lend Australia stocks lower on Tuesday.
