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Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks kept to a tight range on Tuesday amid growing caution over U.S. trade tariffs as an August 1 deadline neared, while Japanese stocks clocked sharp swings after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba lost the upper house majority.
Regional markets took middling cues from Wall Street, which closed largely flat overnight after marking intraday record highs. Focus this week is on a barrage of major earnings, headlined by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
S&P 500 Futures were mildly positive in Asian trade. While Wall Street hit a series of record highs over the past week, this momentum was seen fading amid persistent uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, which are set to take effect from August 1.
Japan stocks whipsaw after Ishiba election loss
Japan’s Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indexes rose about 0.2% each by 22:10 ET (02:10 GMT), but were trading well below intraday highs. The Nikkei had briefly crossed 40,000 points and remained close to recent one-year highs.
A coalition led by Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party lost its majority in Japan’s upper house following a weekend election. While the result was widely expected, it sparked questions about the path of Japanese trade and economic policy.
Ishiba said he intended to stay on as prime minister, although he will now face more challenges to his leadership. This could potentially complicate trade talks with the U.S., as Tokyo races to secure a trade deal before Washington’s 25% tariffs take effect next week.
The LDP’s loss also presents more headwinds for the party in passing future legislation, especially a closely watched tax cut and other corporate reforms.
Asia stocks drift with focus on US tariffs, Q2 earnings
Broader Asian markets moved in a flat-to-low range on Tuesday, as caution over U.S. trade tariffs and the upcoming second-quarter earnings season kept traders to the sidelines.
China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes fell between 0.1% and 0.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.3%.
South Korea’s KOSPI shed 0.5%, while Singapore’s Straits Times index fell 0.1% and was on track to break a 11-day winning streak, which saw the index crest record highs.
Australia’s ASX 200 was flat, after tumbling from record highs on Monday. The minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s July meeting, released earlier in the day, showed the central bank remained open to more rate cuts after unexpectedly leaving rates unchanged this month.
Gift Nifty 50 Futures futures for India’s Nifty 50 index were flat, as the index flitted around the closely-watched 25,000 point level. Focus this week is also on earnings from Indian majors such as tech giant Infosys Ltd (NSE:INFY) and pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd (NSE:REDY), both of which are due on Wednesday.