Asian shares traded within tight ranges as Wall Street was weighed down by tech giants, shifting market attention from the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook to Nvidia Corp.’s upcoming earnings later this week.
Japanese and South Korean stocks managed to edge slightly higher after earlier declines, with Australia also seeing modest gains. Hong Kong futures indicated a weak opening, while US futures remained steady after significant losses among major tech companies led to a dip in US stocks.
In China, the government called on Canada to promptly correct the “wrong practices” related to the newly imposed tariffs on Chinese goods. Canada, which heavily relies on trade with the US, has been closely monitoring the Biden administration’s moves to impose higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, batteries, solar cells, steel, and other products.
Geopolitical concerns kept currency movements restrained, though fears of an escalating conflict following the weekend’s major missile exchange between Israel and Hezbollah began to subside.
The yen dropped 0.2% to 144.82 per dollar, surrendering some of the safe-haven gains from the previous session when it climbed to a three-week high of 143.45 per dollar.
The Australian dollar dipped 0.05% to $0.6768, staying near a one-month high of $0.67985 reached on Friday.
The New Zealand dollar slipped 0.08% to $0.6199, but also remained close to Friday’s seven-month peak of $0.6236.
