SINGAPORE- Asian stocks fell on Tuesday as investors pondered looming US interest rate cuts and awaited earnings from AI darling Nvidia, while rising tensions in the Middle East and supply concerns checked risk sentiment and propped up oil prices.
Gold prices were just shy of a record peak, while the dollar steadied and the yen hovered near its highest in three weeks as investors sough safety amid geopolitical risks, with Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollahexchanging fire on Sunday.
Also supporting crude prices was Libya’s eastern-based government announcement of the closure of all oil fields, which halted production and exports.
Investors are on edge ahead of Nvidia’s earnings report on Wednesday, where anything short of a stellar forecast from the chipmaker could jolt investor confidence in the AI-fueled rally.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.48 percent lower on Tuesday, inching away from the one-month high it touched in the previous session.
European bourses were due to open slightly higher, with Eurostoxx 50 futures rising 0.08 percent , German DAX futures up 0.13 percent and FTSE futures 0.35 percent higher. The London stock market will resume trade after a holiday on Monday.
China’s blue stock index CSI300 fell 0.61 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.27 percent lower, dragged by lacklustre earnings from Temu-parent Holdings due to lower consumer spending.
Also weighing on sentiment was the move by Canada, following the lead of the United States and European Union, to impose a 100 percent tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles and a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and aluminum from China.
In an eagerly awaited speech, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday endorsed an imminent start to interest rate cuts, putting the focus on the Fed’s September meeting.
“The Powell speech gave everything a decent boost on Friday,” said Ben Bennett, Asia-Pacific investment strategist at Legal and General Investment Management.
“But I think investors are now waiting for PCE on Friday as well as the preliminary European inflation numbers at the end of the week.”
