Japanese stocks gained and Chinese mainland stocks faltered on Tuesday in an otherwise quiet market day for a region largely closed for holidays this week.
A U.S.-South Korea trade deal signed Monday in New York was expected to strengthen the relationship between the two countries, the presidents of each said. South Korean investors, however, will have to wait a day to weigh in on the reworked United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement as the stock market there was closed for a Tuesday holiday.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-In in a joint statement “reaffirmed our close alliance and the importance of maintaining strong, mutually beneficial trade and economic ties between our peoples.” They each directed trade officials “to move forward with additional steps, as required in our respective countries, to bring the updated agreement into force as soon as practicable.”
With Hong Kong also closed Tuesday, most Asian markets showed little reaction to the U.S.-Korea news.
Japan stocks have had the best start to the week in the region. The Nikkei NIK, +0.29% was up 0.3% Tuesday.
Chinese stocks were the biggest losers Tuesday, with the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -0.58% down 0.6%. Other Chinese benchmarks fell about 1% as investors fretted about a possible breakdown in U.S.-China trade talks.
Singapore STI, +0.53% stocks rose with the Straits Times Index up 0.5% as commodity and bank names move higher.
Australian stocks XJO, -0.02% spent much of the session in the red before closing little changed on the day. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell by 0.7%, partially reversing the rise of 1.5% in the previous week. The fall was due to the declines in sentiment regarding economic conditions and buying a major household item.
Malaysia’s stock index FBMKLCI, -0.32% extended its fall from a day earlier, down 0.3% to 1,794.47, breaking below the 1,800-level that most analysts had deemed near-term support.
