Asia-Pacific markets mostly declined on Tuesday, even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the U.S. reached new highs. The Dow closed up by 65.44 points, or 0.16%, at 41,240.52, continuing its upward trend. Despite this, the positive momentum from Wall Street did not carry over to the Asian markets, which showed mixed performance.
Investors in Asia are also focusing on China’s year-to-date industrial profits as of July, which could impact market sentiment further. Meanwhile, oil prices saw a significant rise late on Monday following escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 3.5% to $77.42 per barrel, while Brent crude increased by 3.05% to $81.43 per barrel, reaching its highest level in about two weeks. However, by Tuesday, these prices had slightly pulled back.
In terms of specific market movements, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was slightly down by 0.28%, while the broader Topix managed to stay in positive territory with a 0.17% gain. South Korea’s Kospi dropped by 0.48%, with its small-cap counterpart, the Kosdaq, losing 0.45%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell marginally by 0.1%, nearing its all-time high set earlier in August. In contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and mainland China’s CSI 300 saw sharper declines of 0.8% and 0.28%, respectively.
In the broader market context, the Dow’s gains in the U.S. did not reflect in other major indices, as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both ended lower, declining by 0.32% and 0.85%, respectively.
This divergence highlights a cautious atmosphere in global markets, with traders balancing optimism in the U.S. against regional concerns in Asia and the effects of rising oil prices due to geopolitical tensions.
