Asian stocks mixed as investors look to tariff talks

The Advertiser

22-07-2025

Asian stocks have closed mixed and European markets opened lower, deflated by mixed corporate earnings, while investors took stock of tariff negotiations between the US and its trading partners.
The Euro STOXX 600 index fell 0.4 per cent, with bourses in Germany and France losing 0.7 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively on Tuesday.
Investors were also following tariff talks ahead of Washington's August 1 deadline, with the European Union exploring a broader set of possible countermeasures against the US as hopes for an acceptable agreement fade.
The euro was steady at $US1.1689, after rising 0.5 per cent on Monday, but was still away from the near four-year high it touched at the start of the month. The single currency is up 13 per cent this year as investors look for alternatives to US assets bruised by tariff uncertainties.
"The euro's ability to maintain preference over the dollar amid tariff tensions will depend on the extent of any escalation and whether the EU emerges as a relative loser while other countries secure significant deals with the US," ING analysts wrote in a note to clients.
In Asian trading, Japanese markets returned after a holiday following the weekend's election where the ruling coalition suffered a defeat in upper house elections, although Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed to remain in his post.
The Nikkei index shed 0.1 per cent to close at 39,774.92.
China stocks finished at an eight-month high, while Hong Kong shares extended gains to a multi-year peak, driven by construction and power firms after work began on a major dam project in Tibet, billed as the world's largest.
China's blue-chip CSI300 Index ended 0.8 per cent higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent and Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng added 0.5 per cent.
South Korea's Kospi sank 1.3 per cent to 3,169.94 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 and India's Sensex both gained 0.1 per cent.
Wall Street futures were flat. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs on Monday.
Investors are awaiting results this week from Wall Street giants Alphabet and Tesla, as well as from European heavyweights LVMH, and Roche, as uncertainty over tariffs clouds the outlook.
The dollar index, a measure against six other key currencies, was at 97.942.
The rumblings around the Federal Reserve's independence and whether US President Donald Trump will fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell have kept investors on tenterhooks in recent weeks.
Trump appeared near the point of trying to fire Powell last week, but backed off with a nod to the market disruption that would likely follow.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday the entire Federal Reserve needed to be examined as an institution and whether it had been successful, exacerbating concerns about the independence of the US central bank.
The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady in its July meeting but might lower rates later in the year. Market focus will be squarely on Powell's speech later on Tuesday for clues about when the Fed might ease policy.
In commodities, Brent crude futures fell 0.7 per cent to $US68.72 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.8 per cent to $US66.68 per barrel.
with AP
Asian stocks have closed mixed and European markets opened lower, deflated by mixed corporate earnings, while investors took stock of tariff negotiations between the US and its trading partners.
The Euro STOXX 600 index fell 0.4 per cent, with bourses in Germany and France losing 0.7 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively on Tuesday.
Investors were also following tariff talks ahead of Washington's August 1 deadline, with the European Union exploring a broader set of possible countermeasures against the US as hopes for an acceptable agreement fade.
The euro was steady at $US1.1689, after rising 0.5 per cent on Monday, but was still away from the near four-year high it touched at the start of the month. The single currency is up 13 per cent this year as investors look for alternatives to US assets bruised by tariff uncertainties.
"The euro's ability to maintain preference over the dollar amid tariff tensions will depend on the extent of any escalation and whether the EU emerges as a relative loser while other countries secure significant deals with the US," ING analysts wrote in a note to clients.
In Asian trading, Japanese markets returned after a holiday following the weekend's election where the ruling coalition suffered a defeat in upper house elections, although Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed to remain in his post.
The Nikkei index shed 0.1 per cent to close at 39,774.92.
China stocks finished at an eight-month high, while Hong Kong shares extended gains to a multi-year peak, driven by construction and power firms after work began on a major dam project in Tibet, billed as the world's largest.
China's blue-chip CSI300 Index ended 0.8 per cent higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent and Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng added 0.5 per cent.
South Korea's Kospi sank 1.3 per cent to 3,169.94 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 and India's Sensex both gained 0.1 per cent.
Wall Street futures were flat. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs on Monday.
Investors are awaiting results this week from Wall Street giants Alphabet and Tesla, as well as from European heavyweights LVMH, and Roche, as uncertainty over tariffs clouds the outlook.
The dollar index, a measure against six other key currencies, was at 97.942.
The rumblings around the Federal Reserve's independence and whether US President Donald Trump will fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell have kept investors on tenterhooks in recent weeks.
Trump appeared near the point of trying to fire Powell last week, but backed off with a nod to the market disruption that would likely follow.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday the entire Federal Reserve needed to be examined as an institution and whether it had been successful, exacerbating concerns about the independence of the US central bank.
The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady in its July meeting but might lower rates later in the year. Market focus will be squarely on Powell's speech later on Tuesday for clues about when the Fed might ease policy.
In commodities, Brent crude futures fell 0.7 per cent to $US68.72 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.8 per cent to $US66.68 per barrel.
with AP
Asian stocks have closed mixed and European markets opened lower, deflated by mixed corporate earnings, while investors took stock of tariff negotiations between the US and its trading partners.
The Euro STOXX 600 index fell 0.4 per cent, with bourses in Germany and France losing 0.7 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively on Tuesday.
Investors were also following tariff talks ahead of Washington's August 1 deadline, with the European Union exploring a broader set of possible countermeasures against the US as hopes for an acceptable agreement fade.
The euro was steady at $US1.1689, after rising 0.5 per cent on Monday, but was still away from the near four-year high it touched at the start of the month. The single currency is up 13 per cent this year as investors look for alternatives to US assets bruised by tariff uncertainties.
"The euro's ability to maintain preference over the dollar amid tariff tensions will depend on the extent of any escalation and whether the EU emerges as a relative loser while other countries secure significant deals with the US," ING analysts wrote in a note to clients.
In Asian trading, Japanese markets returned after a holiday following the weekend's election where the ruling coalition suffered a defeat in upper house elections, although Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed to remain in his post.
The Nikkei index shed 0.1 per cent to close at 39,774.92.
China stocks finished at an eight-month high, while Hong Kong shares extended gains to a multi-year peak, driven by construction and power firms after work began on a major dam project in Tibet, billed as the world's largest.
China's blue-chip CSI300 Index ended 0.8 per cent higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent and Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng added 0.5 per cent.
South Korea's Kospi sank 1.3 per cent to 3,169.94 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 and India's Sensex both gained 0.1 per cent.
Wall Street futures were flat. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs on Monday.
Investors are awaiting results this week from Wall Street giants Alphabet and Tesla, as well as from European heavyweights LVMH, and Roche, as uncertainty over tariffs clouds the outlook.
The dollar index, a measure against six other key currencies, was at 97.942.
The rumblings around the Federal Reserve's independence and whether US President Donald Trump will fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell have kept investors on tenterhooks in recent weeks.
Trump appeared near the point of trying to fire Powell last week, but backed off with a nod to the market disruption that would likely follow.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday the entire Federal Reserve needed to be examined as an institution and whether it had been successful, exacerbating concerns about the independence of the US central bank.
The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady in its July meeting but might lower rates later in the year. Market focus will be squarely on Powell's speech later on Tuesday for clues about when the Fed might ease policy.
In commodities, Brent crude futures fell 0.7 per cent to $US68.72 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.8 per cent to $US66.68 per barrel.
with AP
Asian stocks have closed mixed and European markets opened lower, deflated by mixed corporate earnings, while investors took stock of tariff negotiations between the US and its trading partners.
The Euro STOXX 600 index fell 0.4 per cent, with bourses in Germany and France losing 0.7 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively on Tuesday.
Investors were also following tariff talks ahead of Washington's August 1 deadline, with the European Union exploring a broader set of possible countermeasures against the US as hopes for an acceptable agreement fade.
The euro was steady at $US1.1689, after rising 0.5 per cent on Monday, but was still away from the near four-year high it touched at the start of the month. The single currency is up 13 per cent this year as investors look for alternatives to US assets bruised by tariff uncertainties.
"The euro's ability to maintain preference over the dollar amid tariff tensions will depend on the extent of any escalation and whether the EU emerges as a relative loser while other countries secure significant deals with the US," ING analysts wrote in a note to clients.
In Asian trading, Japanese markets returned after a holiday following the weekend's election where the ruling coalition suffered a defeat in upper house elections, although Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed to remain in his post.
The Nikkei index shed 0.1 per cent to close at 39,774.92.
China stocks finished at an eight-month high, while Hong Kong shares extended gains to a multi-year peak, driven by construction and power firms after work began on a major dam project in Tibet, billed as the world's largest.
China's blue-chip CSI300 Index ended 0.8 per cent higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent and Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng added 0.5 per cent.
South Korea's Kospi sank 1.3 per cent to 3,169.94 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 and India's Sensex both gained 0.1 per cent.
Wall Street futures were flat. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs on Monday.
Investors are awaiting results this week from Wall Street giants Alphabet and Tesla, as well as from European heavyweights LVMH, and Roche, as uncertainty over tariffs clouds the outlook.
The dollar index, a measure against six other key currencies, was at 97.942.
The rumblings around the Federal Reserve's independence and whether US President Donald Trump will fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell have kept investors on tenterhooks in recent weeks.
Trump appeared near the point of trying to fire Powell last week, but backed off with a nod to the market disruption that would likely follow.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday the entire Federal Reserve needed to be examined as an institution and whether it had been successful, exacerbating concerns about the independence of the US central bank.
The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady in its July meeting but might lower rates later in the year. Market focus will be squarely on Powell's speech later on Tuesday for clues about when the Fed might ease policy.
In commodities, Brent crude futures fell 0.7 per cent to $US68.72 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.8 per cent to $US66.68 per barrel.
with AP