Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Tuesday, as investors followed Wall Street’s overnight declines and continued to rotate away from artificial intelligence-related stocks.
By 11:45 am AEDT, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.5%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2%. South Korea’s Kospi 200 outperformed the region, rising 0.6%.
In focus was Japanese trade balance data, which showed exports rose at their fastest pace in nine months in November. Shipments increased 6.1% year on year, beating market expectations for a 4.8% rise and accelerating from October’s 3.6% gain.
The export strength was driven by a sharp increase in shipments to Western Europe, which surged 23.6%, alongside an 8.8% rise in exports to the United States, Japan’s second-largest trading partner.
The data also marked the first increase in exports to the U.S. since March.
Meanwhile, imports rose in November, increasing 1.3% from a year earlier. While this was below expectations for a 2.5% rise, it represented an acceleration from the 0.7% increase recorded in the previous month.
Overnight in the U.S., major benchmarks finished mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, while the S&P 500 declined 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite bucked the trend, ending the session 0.2% higher.
Among commodity markets, Brent crude oil fell 2.7% to settle at US$58.92 a barrel, hovering near its lowest levels since February 2021.
Spot gold slipped 0.1% but remained close to record highs at US$4,302.23 an ounce.
In mainland China, markets retreated sharply. The Shanghai Composite dropped 1.1% to 3,824.8, while the CSI 300 fell 1.2% to 4,497.6.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.5% to 25,235.4, and India’s BSE Sensex ended 0.6% lower at 84,697.9.
European markets closed lower on Tuesday, weighed down by declines in major defence stocks amid rising hopes of a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.7% to 9,684.8, Germany’s DAX slipped 0.6% to 24,076.9, and France’s CAC 40 eased 0.2% to 8,106.2.
