Asia-Pacific markets started the week lower on Tuesday as investors reacted to renewed Unite States-Iran tensions after President Donald Trump announced plans to impose shipping fees in the Strait of Hormuz and reinstated a blockade on Iranian ports.
By 12 pm AEST (2 GMT), Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was trading 0.4% lower, Japan's Nikkei 225 had declined 0.4%, and South Korea's KOSPI 200 fell 0.7%.
Among data releases, Australian consumer sentiment improved in July, with the Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index rising 4.1% to 83.9 from 80.6 in June.
However, Westpac Head of Australian Macro-Forecasting Matthew Hassan warned that sentiment remained deeply pessimistic.
"Despite the gain, sentiment remains deeply pessimistic. At 83.9, the latest Index read is still in the bottom 10% of results over the 50-year history of the survey.
"Some of the July improvement looks to be relief that ‘worst case’ scenarios – around energy prices, interest rates and jobs – are not playing out.
"However, family finances are clearly under intense pressure and the outlook is uncertain. Sentiment also remains hostage to developments abroad with daily responses showing a significant weakening as the situation in the Strait of Hormuz deteriorated over the course of the survey week."
In a separate release, China’s trade growth accelerated more than expected in June, as exports surged 27% year-on-year in U.S. dollar terms, the strongest growth since October 2021, according to customs data released Tuesday.
The result accelerated from May’s 19.4% increase and exceeded market expectations for an 18.2% rise.
Imports climbed 36% in June, marking the biggest increase since June 2021, after rising 27.4% in May and surpassing forecasts for a 24% gain.
China recorded a trade surplus of $125.6 billion during the month.
Wall Street ended lower on Monday as geopolitical risks weighed on investor sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.6%.
In commodities, ICE Brent crude surged 9.6% to settle at US$83.30 per barrel, while spot gold fell 2.7% to close at US$4,001.49 per ounce.
Chinese equities declined, with the SSE Composite Index falling 2.1% to 3,913.8 and the CSI 300 losing 1.8% to finish at 4,695.4.
Hong Kong stocks bucked the regional trend, with the Hang Seng Index gaining 0.2% to 24,213.7, while India's BSE Sensex edged 0.1% higher to 77,616.4.
European markets finished mostly higher on Monday. The UK's FTSE 100 was unchanged at 10,498.3, Germany's DAX rose 0.2% to 25,114.3, and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.3% to 8,364.7.
