Asian markets traded mostly lower on Tuesday after Wall Street snapped its eight-day winning streak, with sentiment cooling as gold prices broke above $4,000 per ounce for the first time.
Gold was last up $25.40 at $4,029.60 per ounce, as investors sought safety amid global political and economic uncertainty.
The Japanese yen weakened sharply against the dollar on expectations that Sanae Takaichi, the conservative lawmaker set to become Japan’s next prime minister, will maintain ultra-loose monetary policy. The dollar rose to ¥152.53 from ¥151.90, while the euro slipped to $1.1621 from $1.1659.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 edged 0.1% higher to 48,002.18, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.9% to 26,719.68 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.1% to 8,945.10. Markets in mainland China and South Korea were closed for holidays, and Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1%.
Takaichi, recently chosen by Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party as its new leader, is expected to expand government spending and advocate continued easy credit — potentially delaying the Bank of Japan’s efforts to raise interest rates. Japan’s key rate has stayed near zero for years, even as inflation has exceeded the 2% target and outpaced wage growth.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 46,602.98, the S&P 500 slipped 0.4% to 6,714.59, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.7% to 22,788.36.
In bond markets, the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes eased to 4.131% from 4.161% late Monday.
