SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific shares fell on Tuesday as South Korean inflation rose and investors awaited the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate decision.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.13% in early trade and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 3.1%.
The city’s gross domestic product shrank by 1.4 percent in the second quarter of 2022, according to advance estimates released by the government on Monday. GDP decreased by 3.9% in the first quarter of the year.
Shares in mainland China also fell. The Shanghai Composite lost 1.49% and the Shenzhen Component around 2%.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 1.35% and the Topix index lost 1.72%.
Australia and South Korea experienced more moderate losses.
In South Korea, the Kospi was down 0.45% and the Kosdaq was down 0.38%.
Consumer prices in South Korea rose 6.3 percent in July compared with the same period in 2021, official data showed on Tuesday. That’s in line with expectations and the fastest acceleration in prices since November 1998, Reuters reported.
The Bank of Korea raised rates by 50 basis points in July.
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Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.34%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to hike 50 basis points after official data showed prices in Australia rose 6.1% in the second quarter compared with a year ago.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.33%.
Overnight in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 46.73 points, or 0.14%, to 32,798.40.
The S&P 500 fell 0.28% to 4,118.63 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.18% to close at 12,368.98.
coins
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of peers, was at 105.224.
The Japanese yen traded at 130.63 per dollar, continuing its strengthening trend. The Australian dollar was at $0.7014, after rising above $0.7.
“AUD higher as USD eases overnight amid weaker US data,” ANZ Research said in a note on Tuesday.
Oil futures fell on Tuesday. US crude fell 0.6% to $93.33 a barrel after falling 4.8% in the previous session, and Brent crude lost 0.75% to 99, $28 per barrel. The international benchmark was 3.79% lower.