SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific shares traded mixed on Tuesday morning as investors awaited the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest rate decision.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1% while the Topix index fell 0.35%.
South Korea is at the lower end of the Kospi fraction. Elsewhere, Australian stocks rose as the S&P / ASX 200 rose 0.76%.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore’s Straits Times index rose 0.34%. Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China are closed for the holiday on Tuesday.
MSCI’s broader index of Asia-Pacific shares traded 0.15% higher outside Japan.
Oil prices were higher on the morning of the Asian trading hour on Tuesday, with international benchmark Brent crude futures rising 1.54% to 9 109.19 a barrel. US crude futures rose 1.55% to 4 104.88 a barrel.
Oil prices rose on Monday as investors prepared for the possibility of further Western sanctions on Russia following allegations of civilian genocide near Ukrainian cities.
The EU’s new sanctions on Russia could include steel, luxury, jet fuel and more, sources told CNBC. The bloc, however, is divided over whether to extend these restrictions on energy imports.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia is set to announce its latest interest rate decision on Tuesday at 12:30 pm HK / SIN.
Before that decision the Australian dollar traded at $ 0.7539, down from $ 0.75 after yesterday’s jump.
Overnight on the Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.81% to 4,582.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 103.61 points, or 0.3%, to 34,921.88. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1.9% to 14,532.55.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 98.967 after climbing from a recent low of 98.6.
The Japanese yen traded at 122.55 per dollar, weaker than the 122 level against the greenback last week.
