Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Tuesday, recovering from a weak lead on Wall Street, where a sharp cryptocurrency sell-off dented sentiment overnight.
By 11:35 am AEDT (12:35 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.6% and South Korea’s Kospi 200 advanced 1.3%.
South Korean auto stocks climbed after U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that reduced U.S. auto tariffs of 15% on South Korean vehicles would be applied retroactively from 1 November, alongside the removal of tariffs on aeroplane parts and an adjustment to Korea’s reciprocal rate to align with Japan and the EU.
Hyundai Motor added 4.1%, while Kia Corp rose 2.9%.
In Australia, fresh data showed the total number of dwellings approved fell 6.4% in October to 15,832, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Daniel Rossi, the ABS’s head of construction statistics, noted: “The October fall in dwellings was driven by a 13.1% drop in approvals for private dwellings excluding houses. This result follows a 25.0% rise in this series in September.”
Separately, the value of Australia’s residential dwellings rose by $317 billion, or 2.7%, to $11.9 trillion in the September quarter of 2025.
In South Korea, the consumer price index fell 0.2% from the previous month and increased 2.4% year-on-year, broadly matching expectations but holding above the Bank of Korea's inflation target of 2% for the third consecutive month.
Overnight in the United States, major benchmarks declined, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.9%, the S&P 500 slipping 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite easing 0.4%.
In commodities, Brent crude rose 1.3% to settle at US$63.17 a barrel, while spot gold added 0.4% to US$4,232.29 an ounce.
In China, the Shanghai Composite advanced 0.7% to 3,914.0, and the CSI 300 gained 1.1% to 4,576.5.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.7% to 26,033.3. India’s BSE Sensex dipped 0.1% to close at 85,641.9.
European markets finished lower on Monday. The FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% to 9,702.5, Germany’s DAX lost 1% to 23,589.4, and France’s CAC 40 eased 0.3% to 8,097.0.
